Shattered Mirrors
by Dragonstormgirl
Summary: TFP Shattered Glass. Starts right after the Season 2 finale. Jack and Arcee get caught in a ground bridge malfunction and are thrown into a universe that is not a mirror image of their own. T for Cybertronian gore. NOTE: Not a J/A story, they are simply the main characters. Kinda.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Shattering the Glass

Green fire swirls in the ground bridge vortex. The countless shades of green leap and twist into a tube-shape, rolling and occasionally flashing red. These flashes appear more and more often until they almost completely engulf the teen-age boy with his blue motorcycle riding through the tunnel of flames. He seems worried, either about the state of the clearly unstable ground bridge or what is happening on both ends.

"Arcee…" he murmurs, uncomfortable with the way the bridge is acting.

"I know, I see it too," his motorcycle answers, worry clearly in her voice as well. Finally, the bridge decides that enough is enough and collapses in on itself behind them, sending a wall of red and green flames swirling and roaring towards them. The flames engulf the duo and spit them out the other side onto the top of a shady hill. To stick the landing though, the motorcycle is forced to transform into a tall Cybertronian warrior femme, making sure not to land on her charge. Doing so however, requires her to land Spiderman-style over him, legs and arms splayed.

"You okay?" she asks, worry in her voice.

Jack nods. "Where are we?" he asks with confusion.

They have landed on the side of a rocky hill overlooking a tree-covered plain. A gentle breeze floats over them as birds sing and leaves rustle in the breeze. It seems peaceful to the boy and femme until the sound of an explosion rocks the blissful silence.

"What was that?" Jack asks his partner.

"No idea, but we'd better be careful. Stay close." Arcee creeps down the hill, Jack hot on her heels. She hides behind rocks and trees, blasters activated. Several more explosions follow as well as the clash of metal against metal. Eventually, they come to within a few feet of the spot where the noise is emanating from. They hide behind a rock and peek around.

To their utmost surprise, a black and red mech with blood red optics is dueling a white Seeker, blue optics showing his slight panic.

"Cliffjumper?" Arcee wonders. It appears that she is correct. The black and red bot looks like an almost identical copy of Cliffjumper, except for the colors.

"Starscream," Jack mutters. The Seeker is white with red and blue accents and looks surprisingly like Starscream, except for his brilliant blue optics. It appears that he is losing this battle with the unknown mech now with only his claws as weapons. Suddenly, the red and black bot sees his chance and dodges under the jet's guard to slam into him. Both hit a nearby rock, hard, the Seeker's wings bending in a painful manner making him shriek in pain. The jet tries to clamber to his feet, but the fact that the other bot has him trapped stops him.

"This is for RC!" the black and red robot hisses, his voice full of malice, scarlet optics flashing in uncontrolled anger. He aims his blaster at the jet's head, ready to blow it off at any second.

"Cliffjumper, I did not mean to kill your partner. I was only acting in self defense."

Cliffjumper laughs coldly, "really Starscream, really? Keep telling yourself that and you might believe it."

Suddenly, a large Cybertronian jet transforms behind the two mechs. Unsheathing his sword, he attempts to run the red and black bot through but Cliffjumper manages to dodge out of the way. He turns to take on his attacker, sending off several rounds into the silver titan. The silver mech sheathes his sword in preference of his fusion cannon and fires at Cliffjumper, successfully driving him away from the downed and barely conscious Seeker. The black muscle car squeezes off a few more shots before transforming and leaving the clearing. Starscream whimpers, drawing the silver mech's attention to the Decepticon SIC.

"Are you alright old friend?" he asks the jet, worry in his voice.

"Yes Megaton, I believe so," is all he manages to reply, although he is clearly lying. A large wound on his right side leaks energon freely, as well as his crumpled wings, already surrounding him in a puddle.

"Let's get you back to the ship, shall we?" Megatron then speaks into his comm. unit. "Soundwave, I need a bridge. Tell Knock Out to ready his med bay, Starscream's badly hurt." He gently helps his second-in-command to his feet, and supports the limping bot to a swirling ground bridge portal that has just popped up.

* * *

Jack and Arcee watch the exchange between Starscream and Megatron with amazement.

"Did he just call Starscream what I thought he did?" queries Jack. He looks up at his friend and notices the look on her face. "Arcee, are you alright? What's wrong?"

"Cliffjumper's alive." She whispers in shock. As soon as the ground bridge portal closes, they creep from their hiding place.

"Why did Cliffjumper he have red optics? And why do Starscream and Megatron have blue optics?" he asks his friend. Arcee merely shrugs. Jack continues, "The colors are different too. This is so weird!"

Right behind them, another ground bridge opens and out steps Bumblebee, but with reversed colors, and an acid green Bulkhead. Following them are several of what look like Vehicons, bar the fact that they now have Autobot symbols instead of Decepticon symbols. They all have red optics, just like Cliffjumper. Immediately Bumblebee, Bulkhead, and the Vehicons pull out their weapons, ready to fire on Arcee and Jack. "Who are you? Where is Cliffjumper?" asks Bumblebee without any beeps or whirs. He notices Arcee's Autobot symbol and approaches cautiously. The Vehicons spread out into a circle surrounding Arcee and Jack with Bulkhead and Bumblebee facing the duo. Arcee does not like having enemies at her back and crouches protectively over Jack. Bumblebee watches her with some surprise. Female Cybertronians have almost disappeared from the universe. Airachnid was the only living one he knew; Starscream had recently killed the only femme on the Autobot side.

Bumblebee watches Arcee as she prepares for attack and realizes that this unknown Autobot is protecting a human of all things. A look of disgust somehow crosses his face as he speaks to Arcee. "A _fleshling? _ Why are you with one of those things? Are you an Autobot or not?" He takes a threatening step forward, but Arcee's blasters whirr in readiness to fire.

"Uh, maybe we should take her to Optimus. I'm sure that he would know what to do," Bulkhead states. Bumblebee just glares at him.

"Not yet, you simpleton," he hisses spitefully at his partner. "We will take her to Optimus after I have had my fun with her. Until then, she is going nowhere." Bulkhead seems pleased and leers at the blue femme while Bee turns back to the circled duo. "Now answer me, who are you?"

Suddenly, a low thrum fills the air. Bumblebee's optics widen with fear. "It's Hardshell! Take your positions and prepare for attack!" he shouts, completely forgetting about Arcee and Jack in his panic. The Vehicons quickly turn and prepare for battle, blasters aimed at the trees surrounding the clearing. Arcee sees her chance, grabbing Jack before transforming and darting away. Unfortunately, Bulkhead notices them and fires on the motorcycle, just managing to graze her, but causing enough damage that she flips out of vehicle mode and hides Jack behind a rock. Running from behind the rock, she is attacked by Bumblebee. Darting left and right, she dodges Bee's blasts and tries to jump over him. To her amazement, he grabs her out of the air as she goes over his head. He holds her by one arm and blasts her several times in the chest before throwing her away. She lands hard and desperately tries to rise, but the scout pounces and prepares for the final deathblow.

The thrumming grows louder, and a huge, blue, Insecticon slams into Bumblebee, knocking him aside. The Insecticon transforms, using his body as a living shield over the unconscious Arcee. A Hummer crashes into the clearing and transforms into a bulky red and orange bot with one eye. "Breakdown!" Bulkhead yells. The two titans charge and clash with a grind of metal. The Insecticon is easily dealing with both the Vehicons and Bumblebee, already killing all but one of them. Finally, the last one is destroyed leaving only Bee to weather the brunt of Hardshell's furry. Bulkhead is currently fighting Breakdown while back-to-back with Bumblebee when the massive Insecticon sees his chance. Swiping a huge clawed servo, he smashes it into Bee, and sends him crashing into the rock Jack is still hiding behind. Bee climbs unsteadily to his feet and speaks into his comm. unit, "Send a ground bridge. We'll be with you shortly." He turns to Bulkhead who is fighting both 'Cons at the same time. "Bulkhead! Let's get out of here!" he calls out. Transforming, he speeds to the swirling vortex of a ground bridge. Bulkhead follows suit, grabbing Cliffjumper's corpse as he goes.

Breakdown moves to follow them, but Hardshell stops him. "Let them go. We need to get this bot to Knock Out. She's already lost a lot of energon." Breakdown nods. Hardshell looks around him as if he is trying to find something. He lumbers over to the rock that currently hides Jack, making as much noise as possible. When he reaches it, he quietly sneaks around and gently scoops the human up in his servos. "I found the human that was with her. He seems okay, but I don't know enough about his kind to be certain." Breakdown nods distractedly as he examines Arcee. She has a major chest wound from where Bumblebee's blasters have hit her. Breakdown speaks into his comm. unit, "Soundwave, I need a bridge. Let Knock Out know that we're bringing in a critically wounded bot." he gently lifts her and walks through the ground bridge portal. Hardshell follows, gently cupping Jack in his servos as he follows.

* * *

On board the _Nemesis_, the Decepticon star cruiser, Knock Out the medic busily works on Starscream's wounds. The sky-blue and white bot finishes his work and begins to replace his medical equipment when a voice crackles over the med bay comm. system. Breakdown's voice fills the room. He is halfway through his sentence; Soundwave patched him in through his comm. center. "-Out know that we're bringing in a critically wounded bot." The cyan medic sighs and pulls out the equipment he had put away moments before.

Soon the door to the med bay opens and Breakdown enters carrying a wounded femme-bot. Immediately Knock Out is all business. "Set her here," he states, pointing to the berth opposite Starscream. His friend gently sets her down and Knock Out begins. He keeps up a running commentary as he works, explaining his actions to Breakdown and Hardshell as he works. "Looks like most of the damage is to her chest and spark chamber, but her legs look a little singed as well. I can stop the energon loss and check her spark for injury, but I'm mostly worried about internal damage. Breakdown, will you please set up an energon drip for me? She's very low and needs to be replenished." The big mech nods then quickly hooks up an energon cube to a drip and inserts it into her arm. "Will she live?" asks Hardshell. "Yes. Fortunately, her injury is not as bad as it first looked even though she has light armor. She was lucky that only Bumblebee attacked her." A few seconds later, the 'Con medic asks, "What happened?" Breakdown explains their side of the story.

Breakdown and Hardshell had been searching for energon deposits when they picked up a warped Autobot ground bridge signal. They stopped when Megatron and Starscream bridged back to the Nemesis. About to continue on their mission, they saw a female Autobot and human emerge from behind a rock. Surprised, they decided to watch and wait to see what happened. They heard the entire conversation between the two and were about to break cover to confront them when Bumblebee, Bulkhead, and their entourage enter via ground bridge. Again, they decided to watch and wait. However, when Bumblebee began to get violent, they wanted to help the two newcomers out.

When Breakdown gets to the part when Hardshell finds Jack, Knock Out glances up from repairing Arcee. "A human? But what is a human doing with an Autobot? And where is it?" he asks, looking around suspiciously.

Hardshell chuckles, "right here in my servos. I thought that he would try to escape, but he never did. Never freaked out either." He holds out his cupped servos to Knock Out, who looks at their contents with curiosity.

Jack has not been having a good day. He had been kidnapped by Decepticons, held for ransom, and now he as no idea where he is, again captured by Decepticons. Definitely not a good day in anyone's book. Now he finally gets a clear view of Knock Out and is surprised to see that the normally red, vain medic is now blue, but his finish is as spotless as ever. His blue optics are filled with compassion and curiosity, not hate, as he peeks into the Insecticon's servos.

Across the room, Starscream finally wakes up with a groan, stiff and still in a little pain. Knock Out barely spares him a glance before returning to work on his other patient. Starscream merely lies on the table, content to listen to Knock Out's commentary and wondering groggily who the medic is working on. He hears Breakdown, no surprise there, and Hardshell, but he is still half-conscious, so he does not make much of it. Knock Out sighs as he steps away from the other table, "okay, that's the best I can do. Her spark was not damaged, thank Primus, but most of her chest armor was eaten away by the blasts. I'm surprised that her arm has not fallen off; there wasn't much holding it on." Now Starscream opens his optics to look at the other bots' topic of conversation. To his great surprise, a blue and pink femme-bot that he has never seen occupies the medic's other table. He has her hooked up to several machines that are monitoring her life signals. She looks so familiar, but the jet is positive that he has never seen her in his life.

Knock Out leans over Hardshell's servos and appears to be speaking into them. "So human, what are your names and how did you manage to befriend an Autobot?"

A deep voice comes from behind them, causing them all to jump. "Yes, I would like to know that as well."


	2. Chapter 2

**Just found out how to do authors notes *facepalm* so this one makes up for the first one. So this kinda jumps in right between Crossfire and Nemesis Prime. There are several episodes I won't do, simply because I'm not sure how they would work out. Yeah, enjoy, bye. **

Chapter 2: Alliances

Jack tries to get a good look at the speaker and is surprised to see Megatron. Trailing behind him is Soundwave, or at least a silver and purple version of him. He smiles at their surprise; not a cruel smile like Jack would have normally seen, but one that is kind and slightly amused. "How are your patients Knock Out?" he asks, turning to the sky-colored medic.

"Well, Starscream is awake, and this one," he jerks his head at Arcee, "is badly injured but will survive. The most interesting part is not the wound itself, but the one who gave it to her. Breakdown says Bumblebee and Bulkhead attacked her. Also, she tried to save the human before she was blasted by both of them."

Megatron nods thoughtfully, considering the information his medic has just handed him. He turns to Hardshell and asks, "May I see the human please?" The massive Insecticon hands Jack over carefully, making sure that he will not fall. Jack stares at the being that he usually would be terrified to meet, but to his surprise, he feels no fear, as if the giant silver mech sends off an aura of gentle intelligence. He looks into his brilliant blue eyes filled with compassion and kindness, with maybe a bit of humor thrown in.

"My name's Jack and this is my friend Arcee. We were traveling through a ground bridge when something happened to it and we came here."

Soundwave suddenly plays a recording, cutting off Jack. It was a slightly panicky femme, "what happened?" before adding anther recording to finish his question with Knock Out's voice, "to the ground bridge?"

Jack answers the tech specialist with a shrug. "I don't really know. We were going through the ground bridge when it started to turn red. Eventually it collapsed behind us and surrounded us and then we were here. Out base was being attacked, so maybe that has something to do with it."

The Decepticon leader turns to his Communications Officer. "What do you think? Do you know what happened?" Soundwave's monitor fills with complicated diagrams and figures, but he seems a little lost about the whole thing. He might be the one who operates the ground bridge, but he has never really understood how it works. Finally, he gives a helpless shrug in defeat. Megatron turns to the human still in his palm. "We will have to figure this whole mess out later, but now I would like you to finish your story. You never mentioned how you met your friend. Arcee is her name, correct?"

Jack nods then begins the story of how he first met the Autobots and what it is like where he comes from. During his narration, all the Decepticons seem surprised at his story. All except Starscream, who is still lying on his table, thinking about the young human's words. Suddenly, a thought strikes him and he sits up, even though it hurts like crazy. "Jack, I think I know your problem. The ground bridge warped and sent you here to a mirror universe where the Autobots are evil and we are good. It's the only thing that makes sense. The only question is why. Why did it warp? Why at that very moment?" he sighs in resignation. "I wish Shockwave was here. He was the one who invented ground and space bridges, so he could probably tell us why."

Jack turns to the white Seeker. "What do you mean? Where is he?" Starscream smiles sadly at the human's curiosity.

"He was killed in a space bridge explosion engineered by our RC and Cliffjumper. He was a good friend of mine and an amazing scientist."

"Oh," Jack murmurs, "I'm sorry to hear that."

Megatron smiles at Jack, "You have told us your story, now it is time I tell you ours. But first, I would like to know how much you already know about us."

Jack thinks for a few seconds, and then begins. "I know that there are two sides fighting, the Autobots and Decepticons. The war started when you and Optimus realized that Cybertron needed to change, so you got together and had the same idea. But it wasn't until later that you realized your ideas were not as closely related as you thought, so you broke apart. Optimus created the Autobots and you created the Decepticons. Then I'm guessing Optimus poisoned Cybertron with dark energon, nearly destroying it, and then you had to get everyone off as it went dark."

Megatron seems surprised at the youth's knowledge. "Yes and no. Yes you have the basic bits correct, except that Optimus did not poison the core with dark energon, but he poisoned the Matrix itself. Jack, you must understand that Optimus is a false Prime. I was originally the one to bear the Matrix and become the next Prime, but Optimus stole it from me. His hatred and anger corroded it and Cybertron, so I must take the Matrix from him to remove the toxin he has poured into our home."

Jack seems thoughtful as he listens to the Decepticon leader. He finally looks up at the silver titan. "But, I don't get one thing. If the Autobots are evil, then why are you not working with the governments to get rid of them?"

Megatron smiles, "Ah, you have hit the heart of the problem. Optimus has demonized us in the eyes of humans. They think that we are evil, while the ones they should be worried about are right in front of them."

The human seems confused, "But they haven't figured it out yet? If Optimus is anything like my version of you, then he probably has a hard time trying not to kill any one." Megatron sighs, "yes, but I have come to believe that the government is working with the Autobots' twisted schemes. We will take this in stride and deal with this disturbing possibility later." He smiles at Jack before placing him on a console next to Arcee. "I suggest that you stay here until your friend wakes up and explain your predicament to her. It would be in our best interests if she did not try to kill my medic."

* * *

Cliffjumper storms into base, seething. That blasted Seeker got away! He snarls, turning a corner and almost running into Bulkhead. "Watch where you're going!" he snaps at the former Wrecker who just stares at him as he stomps down the hall to the med bay where he can repair himself. The black and red mech angrily throws open a cabinet of medical supplies and begins to repair his arm where Megatron had taken a chunk out of it. Something tells him to look up and he does so, straight into the purple optics of a mech he gladly has not seen for centuries. He yelps in alarm and jumps safely out of the reach of the insane 'medic'.

"What the _frag_ Ratchet? What are you doing here?" Glaring, he picks him self off the floor from where he landed in his surprise. The medic glances curiously at the wound, apparently very interested in the sparking wires revealed by Megatrons canon. "And stay away from my arm! I saw what you did to Smokescreen and you are _not _doing it to me!" he snarls, pulling the damaged limb away from the mad scientist. He pouts, obviously unhappy with the black and red assassin. Scowling, Cliffjumper keeps a very close eye on him as he putters around the med bay-slash-lab known half-jokingly as the room of horrors. Once the mad scientist is far enough away that he is comfortable, Cliff returns to his previous repair job.

Almost finished, a light servo rests itself on his shoulder causing him to jump up and away from the offending appendage. You could never be too careful in Ratchet's lab. But to his surprise, a matte-black femme stands before him, a pout on her face and a glazed look in her optics. Cliffjumper can only stare. "R-RC? But, you're dead! I saw Starscream kill you!" She smiles at him, a rather creepy smile, but a smile nonetheless. She takes several steps forwards and nuzzles into her partner, engine purring in pure delight.

"Oh Cliff, I missed you. Ratchet brought me back from the Matrix with dark energon a few cycles ago. I stayed with him until we came here and now I am with you." She continues to rub against him like a cat as he can only stare, core temperature rising slightly. He scoops her up and removes the two of them from the med bay in search of his personal quarters.

* * *

"So why do we need to do this again?" Breakdown asks Jack, a little grumpy.

"Because I can't live on air. I need food and water like you need energon. Without it, I would die very quickly."

"I still don't see why I have to do it," he mutters, still unpleased.

"Because my alt mode is more obvious than yours. Now stop complaining, you'll be fine," Knock Out tells his best friend over the comm. Jack had realized earlier that he had no food or water with him. As an answer to this problem, Megatron had suggested that he and Breakdown bridge to the surface and get a few supplies. At least he had some money, which he hopes will work in this universe.

The red Hummer pulls up to a convenience store somewhere in Virginia. Jack climbs out and walks into the store while Breakdown waits patiently for his young friend to finish shopping. Once Jack reaches the counter with his water bottles and cans of soup, he gets slightly anxious as he pulls out his wallet to pay for his groceries. The cashier takes his money without hesitation, allowing Jack a silent sigh of relief. He exits and loads his supplies into Breakdown before climbing into the driver's seat. The massive vehicle backs up, and then exits the town via a secluded road on which Breakdown can barely fit.

Blaster fire suddenly rains down on the duo as they traverse the tiny road; Breakdown barely has enough room to maneuver. He yells into his comm. unit, "Soundwave, I need a bridge! We're being attacked! Soundwave? Soundwave?!" He speaks to Jack, "Slag, they fried our communications, whoever they are."

"Well, they're probably Autobots, right? I mean, who else would have blasters?" asks the human who is being roughly thrown around in the front seat. Suddenly, several armored trucks drive towards them with large blasters mounted on their roofs.

Breakdown sees them and turns off the miniscule road and into the forest, "Hold on kid! We're going off road!" Now Jack is really bouncing around as they careen down a hill and through the forest.

As they enter a clearing, Breakdown transforms into his robot mode, his right hand transforming into his hammer, with Jack siting on his shoulder. The cars squeal into a circle around the two and humans jump out of them with large guns that look suspiciously like blasters. "MECH," Jack whispers to his red friend as a man steps from one of the cars and walks towards them. He glances at Jack who is perched on Breakdown's shoulder. The robot notices the glance and turns his body to shield his charge from the attackers. The two face off, each ready to attack at a moment's notice.

Breakdown decides to break the silence first. "Who are you and what do you want?" he asks, a low growl lacing his tone.

The leader of the men observes them for several seconds before he speaks, "My name is Silas, and I am leader of MECH. When I heard that the government had allowed your kind to join with them, I did not agree with their decision and tried to dissuade them, but failed. Now I need information, and you are my key. Let the boy go or I will order my men to fire on you."

Breakdown looked like he wanted to argue, but Jack cut him off, "It's okay Breakdown, I'll go with them." His red friend answers him without taking his optics off the surrounding humans,

"No you won't. I heard your description of MECH and I am not about to hand you over to them."

The human on his shoulder looks at him with determination, "Yes, but that's where I come from. I wouldn't be surprised if this MECH is not half as evil as the one I know. Besides, I don't want you killed because of me."

"Make up your mind!" Silas shouts from his position on the ground. Breakdown stares at Silas before transforming his hammer back into his hand and lowering Jack to the ground. Two commandos rush forwards to hurry Jack to safety behind the laser-mounted cars.

A barrage of blaster fire suddenly hits Breakdown's back and he staggers forward as a black and pink femme jumps from behind a nearby rock formation. Her intended target turns, hammer again replacing his hand and slams her into the same formation she had just jumped from. "RC? But, Starscream killed you!" he gasps at the bot he had long since thought dead and whose mirror opposite is currently residing in his best friend's med bay.

She giggles madly as she charges him again, "yes Starscream killed me, but Ratchet brought me back to life!" He turns at a yell, but a familiar cyan Aston Martin transforms with his electric staff activated. Knock Out expertly whirls the staff to fend off Cliffjumper, who has just appeared from the other side of the clearing.

"I thought you guys didn't hear me!" Breakdown tells his friend.

"Soundwave was finally able to break through their dampener and I bridged down here. Dreadwing or Airachnid should be here soon, they are both fairly close."

During this exchange, Silas and his men watch from a safe distance at the four battling titans. Silas turns to their newly acquired charge with a question. "Alright, what do you know about these robots?"

"Basically, there are good guys and they aren't the Autobots. Breakdown and Knock Out are Decepicons. They were trying to protect me until you came along," Jack answers, pointing at Breakdown and Knock Out battling for their lives. Silas narrows his eyes in suspicion. He could listen to the youth and help the two titans or he could let them battle the other two until there is a winner, and then take the bodies of the losers. Then he remembers the way that the big red one had protected the youth from his men.

He sighs and turns back to Jack, "No, you need to get to safety." Jack begins to protest, but the arrival of a gold and blue jet grabs all of the humans' attention. It transforms into a bulky robot with a large ion cannon at the ready. He shoots at RC, barely missing her as she flips out of the way, before turning to Cliffjumper and sending several bolts his way.

"It's Dreadwing! Let's get out of here!" shouts Cliffjumper, slightly panicking. Dreadwing's ability on a battlefield is almost unrivaled, on par with even Sideswipe and his deceased twin, Sunstreaker. RC nods and they both transform and speed away.

Dreadwing prepares to follow them, but Breakdown places a hand on is shoulder, "Let them go Dreadwing. We need to find Jack and return to the ship. Megatron is waiting for us, and according to Knock Out, Arcee will wake up soon." The massive jet whirls on his red comrade,

"An Autobot on board the ship?! Has Megatron gone insane?" Breakdown groans. He had forgotten that Dreadwing did not know about Arcee and Jack's universe hopping. He quickly explains what happened to the enraged titan, unknowingly giving the listening humans some very interesting information.

* * *

Silas looks at Jack in a new light. He is not even from this universe, yet he seems so calm. He turns to the tall teenager with a new respect. "So, you are from another universe. How did you get here?"

Jack sighs, "I don't really know. Something happened to our ground bridge and it warped, sending us here. I'm not sure what it is; not even Soundwave or Starscream know." Silas raises an eyebrow.

"Who?"

"Friends. At least these guys are. Where I come from, I usually try to stay away from them as much as possible," the youth answers.

Silas nods thoughtfully, "so they are not going to kill you right?" Jack shakes his head. MECH's leader finally nods and turns to his young companion. "Then let's rejoin you with your friends, shall we."

Knock Out looks up as one of the armored cars drives into the clearing, its canon safely stored inside it. The passenger door opens and Jack climbs out followed by Silas. The medic kneels by the human as he approaches, looking slightly worried. "Are you alright Jack? Why did he want you?" Dreadwing looks at Silas, a deadly glint in the warrior's optics.

"If you harmed him, human, then so help me I will kill you," he growls as he takes a threatening step forwards. Only Megatron's timely arrival via the ground bridge keeps him in check. The Decepticon leader takes in the situation with a glance before turning to Silas. The human seems to be in complete awe of all the huge robots surrounding him that don't want to squish him for once.

Megatron kneels before Silas saying, "I agree with Dreadwing; only I will not kill you like he threatened," he glares pointedly at the gold jet before returning his attention to Silas. "What did you want with Breakdown? You said that you needed information, but what kind?" Silas sighs as he begins his explanation.

"When the other robots joined with our government, I was slightly hesitant about the arrangement. I was supposed to work with them personally, but the more I did, the less I liked Optimus Prime and his soldiers. Finally, I decided that enough was enough and left. I have been recruiting men who are equal minded in their ideas about your kind. However, Optimus was wrong. He said that you would kill any of us without a second's thought. When we heard him, I found it hard to believe that anyone could be crueler than him and his Autobots. Yet the red one did not try to kill us, even when we had surrounded him. I now believe that you are not as evil as Optimus states, but instead, you are good. Please accept my apologies and a proposal to become allies."

Megatron nods, "of course I accept; we need more allies. What you see before you is merely half of my troops. We have few resources and fewer advantages. The only real advantage we have is our warship, the _Nemesis_."

Silas smiles at his new friend, "Then I am grateful that you have accepted. This promises to be very profitable for both of us."

**AN- So, we now have MECH in the picture. Such interesting things are going on.**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN- Finally have some Autobots plus there human allies. The greatest enemy indeed, I wonder what will happen next? Yay, I can finally put some pictures up. Yes!**

Chapter 3: The Greatest Enemy

Arcee's optics online slowly and she groans. She feels like was hit by a truck, knowing from experience exactly how that feels. "Hey Arcee, how are you feeling?" Jack's voice comes from somewhere to her left and she looks at him with a smile.

"Hey Jack. I feel like something Bulkhead used for a punching bag."

Jack smiles, "Do you remember anything before you blacked out?" She thinks for a few moments before it all comes back to her. Groaning again, she tries to sit up, but her chest explodes in pain and she lays back.

"How long have I been in stasis?" she asks as the pain finally recedes.

"About two days," he answers her. She nods and finally looks around at her surroundings. Instead of Ratchet's small, bright med bay, she seems to be in a large, dark room with several machines that she is hooked up to.

"Where are we?" she asks in confusion.

Jack looks decidedly awkward as he rubs the back of his head, "About that…"

Arcee listens to Jack in amazement as he explains Starscream's theory about what had happened. He then continues to tell her about his adventure and the Decepticon's alliance with MECH. When he finishes, she lays silently absorbing the information that her partner has supplied her.

Eventually she sighs, "Normally, I would say that anyone who told me that would be insane. Although, considering you're telling me this and the fact that both Bumblebee and Bulkhead tried to kill me, it doesn't sound so crazy."

A voice from behind chuckles, "good, now I don't have to worry about you killing me, although you are so weak that I doubt you could do much damage." Knock Out walks in from another part of his expansive med bay. He and Breakdown had moved Arcee out of the main bay and into a smaller room earlier.

Arcee stares at the sky-hued medic as he efficiently checks welds and joints for any signs of strain. His nimble fingers fly over her frame with the speed and surety of many years of practice. Once he finally finishes, he steps back with a kind smile. "You will make a full recovery as soon as you get some recharge and your healing cycle kicks in. I suggest you recharge immediately; Megatron would like to meet you as soon as you can walk." The medic turns to Jack, "is that sleeping bag on the console still comfortable, or would you like to sleep somewhere else now that she is going to be okay."

Jack shakes his head, "Nah, I'll be fine here." The medic nods and leaves the two conversing quietly about their current predicament.

Arcee's optics slowly online as she wakes up from recharge. She looks around for Jack but does not see him in the sleeping bag that he had somehow managed to find. Starting to panic slightly, her fears are abated when Jack strolls around a corner munching a granola bar. She sighs and relaxes before gingerly rising off the table and standing with a slight grimace of pain. Recharging helped her feel less stiff, but she still has not fully recovered yet. The door to her room opens and Knock Out enters. He smiles at Arcee and Jack, "nice to see that you're awake. Megatron would like to see you now."

* * *

William Fowler, a portly African American government agent, storms into the abandoned underground laboratory that all the Autobots currently reside in. Ever since Silas deserted, he had been stuck with his job of baby-sitting the giant aliens. _Now I know why Silas left this place, _he grumbles to himself. He enters the large room that Optimus Prime currently holds court in. "Prime!" he roars. The purple, black and silver leader turns to the human, his red optics shortly filling with disgust before he hides it behind a look of bored lofty superiority.

"Yes Agent Fowler. I assume you are here to tell me about the latest misdemeanor that my troops have committed regarding our cover. If so, then I greatly apologize for the incident."

Fowler looks surprised at the Prime's words. "I… well… no, actually, I was not. My superiors would like an update on Project Chimera. They seem to think that it is progressing far too slowly." Optimus nods before tapping a few keys on a nearby console pulling up a video feed of Ratchet on one of the many monitors surrounding the room.

The black and white mad scientist jumps when Prime's voice booms through his lab's sound system, "Ratchet, I need and update on Project Chimera."

He whips around to look at Optimus with a small bow and slightly frightened air, "yes master, of course. Project Chimera is going smoothly. I am ready to start the Beta test in a few days at most. All we need are several test subjects, which I assume Agent Fowler will provide."

Their guest nods, "I already have volunteers ready to test this project. They are all a part of the military and at the peak of physical condition."

Optimus nods, "they will make fine subjects then."

* * *

Optimus, Ratchet, and Agent Fowler watch the first test of Project Chimera. The massive, heavily tarnished silver and blue robot towers over them all, including Optimus. Its red optics glare at them balefully as if it has a will of its own. Even though it is controlled by humans and can only do what they ask, Agent Fowler is still a little nervous. "Do you guys even know if this will work?"

"No we do not. That is why we are testing it right now," Ratchet grumbles quietly, but holds his tongue with a look from Optimus.

"Shouldn't you be commanding this experiment, old friend," Optimus adds sarcastically, "making sure nothing goes wrong, like the last couple times we have tested this?" the Prime asks with out turning to the medic/mad scientist. He stalks off, but is too scared of Optimus to say anything against him.

The robot slowly whirs to life, gears and parts turning and clicking with precision as the metallic monster takes several jerky steps forward. Optimus frowns at the clunky movement. It looks nothing like the smooth gait of the automaton's template. However, his fears are abated as the human in command becomes familiar with the control system. Soon it is practicing the designated moves smoothly without any jerks or harsh movements.

Agent Fowler seems impressed with the set-up. He has been recording the demonstration for his superiors and will deliver the footage to them personally. Turning to Prime, he smiles wickedly, "those 'Cons won't know what hit them!"

Prime nods in agreement as the silver titan finishes it's routine and turns to the black and purple leader with an expressionless look on its faceplates. "Yes, Megatron will be most surprised to see himself attack his beloved Decepticons.

* * *

Silas slowly drives in his car as he travels to his home. It is almost eleven at night and he is tired, almost smiling at the thought of his bed. Suddenly, a large explosion behind his car jerks the rear end up, almost flipping it over. He regains control, almost swerving off the road. Another blast rocks his car and he veers sharply to avoid a third blast. Grabbing his cell phone, he finds a number in his contacts and taps it, looking up and trying to find his attacker. A streak of silver grabs his attention as his receiver answers his call.

"Yes Silas? What is the problem?" Silas recognizes the answerer as Starscream, the white jet and Megatron's apparent second-in-command.

"I'm being attacked by-" an explosion rocks his car and he swears at his attacker's accuracy. "-Megatron! He's getting closer to hitting me too! Do you have my coordinates?"

Starscream turns to Soundwave, but the silver mech is already firing up the ground bridge to help their ally. Barking out orders as he runs to the ground bridge and transforms, Starscream calls for Knock Out and Breakdown to follow him. He leaves Arcee, who is completely healed, Jack, Hardshell and Soundwave to await their return.

Once on the battlefield, Starscream sees that indeed, Megatron is attacking Silas' car. Immediately he attacks Megatron, trying to draw his fire from the human while Knock Out and Breakdown help Silas. Unfortunately, Megatron seems intent on his prey and keeps blasting at Silas, simultaneously dodging the jet's rockets with stunning accuracy. Silas continues to swerve desperately, almost colliding with Knock Out and Breakdown until his wild driving sends him over the edge of a bridge he is currently traversing. Knock Out transforms and attempts to save the human but only manages to grab the bumper of the car. It creaks and groans before finally breaking with a grinding snap. Breakdown leaps over the edge, pushing off from the bottom of the bridge and using the momentum to carry him faster than Silas' car. He lands just in time to save him from a gruesome death.

Overhead, Starscream is having difficulties. Megatron has flown into a cloud, disappearing from sight. The white jet desperately searches for his lord before giving up and calling Knock Out on his comm. link, "I lost him Knock Out. I don't know where…" He screams in pain as a massive silver Cybertronian jet rams him from the side. He can feel the metal of his wing crumble from the impact, giving his already hyperventilating system even more issues. The last thing Starscream sees before plummeting to meet the ground, is Megatron hovering over him, transformed, red eyes gleaming in triumph.

* * *

Starscream finally awakens to see most of the Decepticons, including Arcee and Jack, surrounding him as he slowly on-lines his optics. The only ones missing are Airachnid, Soundwave and Megatron. Starscream's spark almost stops at his leader's absence. _There is no way Megatron could have done that_, he thinks before trying to sit up, but Knock Out pushes him back, "easy Starscream. That crash dented you up pretty badly, and your wing was crushed almost beyond repair. I did the best I could, but you cannot fly until it is fully healed."

Starscream nods, feeling slightly dizzy. "Where is Megatron?"

Knock Out tries to shrug impassively, but his real thoughts are easy to see, "no idea. He hasn't reported in from his patrol."

Starscream's optics take on a determined light. "Contrary to your true feelings," he hisses vehemently at the medic who winces at the un-said reprimand, "I do not believe that Megatron did that. Yes, it looked like him, but the optics were red. I don't know who or what that thing was, but I know for sure that it was not Megatron. Anyone who doubts our leader can go rot in the brig or join the Autobots; I could care less which one it is." He glares at all the surrounding bots as they shift uncomfortably under his gaze.

Arcee and Jack share a look, both remembering a time similar to this when they had doubted their Optimus' loyalties. "I agree with Starscream," Arcee states, and all optics turn to her in astonishment. "We had a similar problem with Optimus. A clone of him attacked one of our human friends and me as well. Turns out that our version of MECH had created him to attack us."

"MECH? Really? Isn't Silas leader of MECH? Why would they attack him if they created it, and what did Starscream say about red optics again?" asks Breakdown, slightly confused.

The med bay door slides open behind them and Megatron strides in, a look of confusion in his blue optics at all the weapons leveled at him and his SIC laying on a med berth. He stares at them before finally asking, "To what do I owe this reception?"

Starscream is the first to speak up, "I am not sure that you will believe us if we told you, sir."


	4. Chapter 4

**AN- I am sooo sorry that this took so long (TWO FREAKIN MONTHS!) especially after how quickly I got the first three up. **

**Anyways, this chapter is dedicated to Dragon Force Ranger and Prodigal The Son for their ideas for my name crisis and everyone else who helped. Thanks guys! It's also dedicated to DuskWolfAtDawn who somehow forcefully pulled my muse back from wherever it disappeared to. Thanks man.**

**Several plot twists are in here, the first was unplanned, but it was the perfect place to put it. The two at the very end were planned for a while. Also, there's a G1 easter egg in here for those of you who know your G1. It's reeeally obvious and made the last chapter that much more fun to write because I hate that particular character, so killing him was fun. **

**I apologize now for the cheesy title.**

* * *

Chapter 4: Unspeakable Evils

The massive Cybertronian jet streaks through the cloudless blue sky. Below on the frozen Alaskan tundra is a top-secret base belonging to MECH. The jet lands, transforming as it goes, and looks around at the large, snow-covered compound. Suddenly, an alarm blares out from one of the watchtowers on each corner of the barbed wire and concrete fence. Instantly, the ground is alive with MECH agents, each armed with weapons designed to take down Cybertronians. The large mech smirks in contempt at the humans surrounding it, their feeble attempts at attacking it humorous. Arming its fusion cannon with the quip, "I am Galvatron, leader of the Decepticons and I bring you this message," his massive cannon rains blue plasma on the screaming commandos. Cries rend the air as the blasts send up geysers of snow, dirt and bodies. It continues to fire on the humans, unaware that cameras inside the walls of the palisade are watching it. These cameras are streaming live straight into a certain warship.

* * *

Soundwave watches the unfolding carnage with horror. Megatron stands behind him, observing the events developing on Soundwave's monitors. Most of the other Decepticons gather around their leader, minus Airachnid who is on patrol still and Starscream who is stuck in the med bay until he heals. Every one of them seems astounded at the mindless destruction of the MECH base. Silas is speaking with Megatron about what he plans on doing about their problem.

"Megatron, we need your help to stop this thing. Already it has leveled most of the base. The number of casualties is rapidly increasing. If that thing finds the entrance to the underground portion, then the death rate could easily climb into the hundreds, most of them women and children. This is one of the few bases that we hide families in from the government. If it reaches the second floor..." the human explains to the increasingly angry Decepticons.

"Understood, Silas. We will ground bridge to the location immediately," the Decepticon leader answers. Turning to his surrounding followers, he rapidly picks the team that he will lead to their ally's rescue. "Knock Out, Breakdown, Hardshell and Arcee. You four are with me. Soundwave, you and Dreadwing will remain here as backup." Everyone nods in agreement as Soundwave locks the ground bridge onto the co-ordinates, causing the green vortex to open with a roar. The rescue team transforms and darts through, madly hoping that they are not too late.

* * *

Megatron exits the portal and transforms, followed by Arcee, Hardshell, Knock Out, and Breakdown. The two medics begin to search for survivors, although they are not having much luck. Strewn around the compound, debris and human body parts turn the white snow to black and scarlet. Arcee and Hardshell stay behind Megatron, guarding his back, making sure the false version of him does not mount a surprise attack. Suddenly, a massive explosion rocks the remains of the MECH base. Smoke swirls around a newly created hole in the side of a nearby building, allowing Galvatron to step forwards from the ruins, his red optics gleaming with triumph as he tosses a small body to the side. Arcee sees red as she realizes that the body is that of a child.

"Well, if it isn't the weaker, much more moral version of me here to save the lives of these insects. How, _touching._ As to why you would ever want to save such miserable creatures is a mystery to me," Galvatron rasps in a voice that sounds surprisingly like the real Megatron's. That voice sends chills running down Arcee's spine, but she stands her ground, trembling in eagerness to attack the being that would kill a mere _child_who could be no older than Raf from back home. She tenses, preparing to spring at the monster who looks so much like her current leader.

Arcee watches the silver titan step towards their position. _Another step, just one more and you will be close enough. _He takes that final step and Arcee attacks in a blur of blue and pink, arm blades unsheathed. She flips over his helm, slashing at his head, although he barely ducks to the side and lands on her pedes with a clear shot at his back, which she takes, sending the cumbersome giant staggering. He whirls with a death glare at his opponent, his sword _shhhing-_ing from his arm as he returns the attack with vengeance. Blades flash and energon spills as Arcee's anger hinders her from noticing what is happening around her.

After Arcee's first attack, Megatron was planning to help the enraged femme, but the arrival of several Autobots drastically changed his plans. Now he and Knock Out are battling Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, and Arcee's evil counterpart, RC. Breakdown and Hardshell engage in a deadly dance with Bulkhead and a black and green Wheeljack, respectively, each desperately holding their own. All the 'Bots are augmented by Vehibots, causing more of a headache than a real problem.

Galvatron finally throws Arcee out of their fight and she hits one of the few undamaged walls left at the base. Her anger finally spent, she struggles to rise, but is viciously pushed back down into the snow by its pede. Megatron notices her predicament and comm.'s in help in the form of Dreadwing and Soundwave. The ground bridge opens and spits out Soundwave and Dreadwing in their vehicle forms. The silver UAV transforms and attacks the imposter, managing to keep him away from the injured femme. Meanwhile, Dreadwing joins Megatron and Knock Out in their skirmish using his sword for the close range fighting.

Galvatron calls out to the Autobots after sending Soundwave into a nearby drift with a wicked backhand, surprising the Decepticons with its order. "Autobots, fall back to the ground bridge." It transforms and takes off, while the Autobots disengage and retreat through their ground bridge, leaving the Decepticons in the ruins of the MECH base.

Megatron turns to his troops with a weary sigh and orders "search the base for any survivors. Maybe we can find some that were spared from the rampage." Nods accompany the order and all set to work; all except for Arcee who is leaning against the wall she in a sitting position. He kneels next to his newest soldier, noticing her wounds, which consist of several slashes on her chest and back from his evil version's sword and the plates of her torso severely dented from being stepped on, causing her breaths to come in ragged gasps. Blue optics converge with blue, each holding their gaze before Arcee finally looks away. Megatron sighs with a shake of his head, "Arcee, you do realize how incredibly foolish that was, correct? Only a few have ever tried to battle me, while even fewer have survived. Please tell me why you did something so ill-advised."

Silence greets his question before she finally answers without looking at him, "I was angry with him. He killed so many humans, _so many._ I know of a human that is about the same age as the one he threw when he came out of the building." She nods at the human's body lying in a snow bank not far from them. Megatron reaches out, gently picking up the body. To his surprise, the boy moves and groans with pain. Arcee is surprised that he even survived the fall, much less the entire killing spree that, _thing, _went on, although the large snow drift he was tossed into seemed to cushion his fall somewhat. Slowly he awakes, his brilliant blue eyes staring blearily at Megatron's face, his black hair spiking in every direction.

He blinks several times, still unable to see clearly, and looks around with a mumbled, "where are my glasses?" Moving slowly and stiffly from the pain, Arcee searches through the snow bank that previously contained the boy and manages to find his glasses. She passes them to him and he puts them on, painfully reminding the femme of her now destroyed home. Blinking several times, he finally looks around and sees Megatron clearly for the first time. He squeaks with fear and curls into a ball in the palm of the silver leader's servo, quivering from fright. After several seconds and no painful death, he peeks out of his curled position at the curious and slightly hurt expression on his "captor's" faceplates. He looks to Arcee who smiles at the small human still trembling in the 'Con's palm. "Don't worry, we won't hurt you. You are perfectly safe with us," she assures him.

"What is your name, boy?" Megatron rumbles, his smooth growl oddly comforting to the fearful boy.

"R-Rafael Esquivel. But you can call me Raf," he mumbles shyly. Arcee's optics widen in shock at his statement but her attention is pulled to Knock Out's voice calling from the other side of the compound.

"I found a survivor. It's a femme and," a few choice Cybertronian swear words follow before he continues. "She's _fast._"

"Put me down you over-sized tin can! I can walk on my own _thank you very much!_" The scowling cyan medic stalks into view holding a young teenage Asian girl who has longish dyed ash-blonde hair with several purple streaks plus a very twisted sense of fashion.

Again Arcee feels surprised, although less now than earlier. "Lemme guess, your name's Miko." The look on the girl's face is priceless as she sputters in amazement. Knock Out places her on Megatron's palm before kneeling by Arcee's side and begins to repair her damaged systems. Dreadwing and Breakdown stagger from the hole that Galvatron had created in the building Arcee is currently leaning against. It is still pouring smoke, and has been the entire time they were fighting. Dreadwing is carrying an older teenage boy with brown hair and charred clothing.

"Everything is on fire down there, with no survivors except for this one, and even then I'm not sure if he will survive," Breakdown explains to the three bots and two humans. Megatron nods tiredly. This was not good, the humans need medical attention, but the only human on board the _Nemesis _is Jack and it is doubtful that he has the knowledge needed for such matters.

The decision however, is not his to make. Several military helicopters appear on the horizon, moving in for the attack. Their pilots quickly realize that these are Decepticons and initiate an attack on the grounded bots. Megatron and Dreadwing cover the humans in their servos, creating a living shield to keep them from harm.

Megatron turns to Soundwave, "Soundwave, open a ground bridge and contact Silas. These humans need medical attention and we need to retreat." His silent friend nods and opens the green portal, allowing everyone, bots and humans, to enter the halls of the _Nemesis._

* * *

Thankfully, Soundwave had the intuition to open the bridge close to the med bay, allowing everyone easy access to Knock Out's domain. Jack and Starscream look up as everyone troops in, minus Soundwave who is waiting for a group of MECH paramedics to check the humans they brought in.

Jack is the first to react to all the wounded, noticing his partner being supported by Knock Out while Breakdown helps him direct everyone to berths and such. "Arcee, are you alright? What happened?" he asks, eyes filled with worry. Arcee sends him a tired smile, before Knock Out helps her onto a berth. The only one not injured in some way appears to be Hardshell, who has his thick Insecticon armor to thank for that.

Miko and Raf stare at the size difference surrounding them. They finally seem to notice Jack as he calls out to Arcee. Megatron sets them down on the consul next to Starscream's berth, on which Jack is perched as well, before he leaves to help the medics with smaller injuries. Jack glances at them in surprise; he had not expected to see humans as well. Miko holds out her hand, a massive grin covering her face. "Hi, my name's Miko," she chirps to Jack, pulling Raf closer to her to meet the surprised human. "And this is Raf. Do you actually know these robots? How cool is that! Where do they come from? Where do you come from? How do you know them? How did they turn into cars and planes? Who was that Galvatron dude who attacked us? Why does he look like that other guy? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Jack sputters before finally managing to find his voice, "Umm, ok. My name's Jack and these are the Decepticons. I actually come from another universe, so I know you already. The Decepticons come from the planet Cybertron, which the Autobots, the bad guys, destroyed in a war. Their leader is Optimus Prime and he is very evil. Megatron, the big silver and blue one, is the leader of the Decepticons. He's a good guy. The one that attacked the base was an evil version of him."

Raf and Miko nod, although Raf looks confused about something, "but you just said that you're from another universe. How is that possible?"

Jack just shrugs, "I don't know. Something happened to our ground bridge and we were sent here."

The other two look as if they are about to ask more questions, but Starscream, who is avidly listening to their conversation, breaks in with his explanation. "That will have to be explained later, but for now, we need to focus on what will happen to the two of you. As humans, you are small and easily squished. I believe that you need guardians, and I know that Megatron will agree with me. We will have to sort that out later, but until then I will give you a quick introduction to the Decepticons. My name is Starscream. That, as Jack has already told you," he points to Megatron," is Megatron, our leader. The jet next to him is Dreadwing, our weapons specialist. Next are Knock Out, the blue car, and his assistant, Breakdown. They are our medics. The largest one is Hardshell, one of the few Insecticons left. Sitting on the birth is Arcee, Jack's guardian. She came from the same universe Jack does. She is not actually a Decepticon, but an Autobot. Where they come from, the Decepticons are evil while the Autobots are good. Oh yes, and one more of the Decepticons has arrived. The one who just walked in is Soundwave. He is our director of communications, hacker, and ground bridge operator. It appears that he has some humans with him; I wonder why."

Starscream and the kids watch as Soundwave gently lowers the three humans in his servos to a berth near Dreadwing, who holds something in his servos. Knock Out immediately forces Soundwave onto a berth to check for injuries ignoring the recorded complaints, mostly Megatron's, that the silver and purple mech is currently using. Dreadwing gently lays his burden on a berth, watching with interest as two humans break from the group and immediately set to work on what ever he held. The third turns to Megatron, who offers his servo as a ride. Megatron strides over to the consol on which the kids are currently residing, allowing them a good look at who he is holding.

"Hello Jack. It's good to see you again, although I would prefer it if we were under different circumstances. Hello Miko and Raf. I'm sorry that you had to go through all of that," Silas tells the young humans. He then turns to Starscream with a greeting before moving to inspect Raf and Miko for injuries.

Starscream turns to Megatron with a question, "what happened?"

Megatron sighs and gives the white jet a full report on the situation. The humans listen as they hear the Decepticon's side of the story. When finished with his tale, Megatron turns to Silas, who has finished checking up on Raf and Miko. "Unfortunately, we do not know where the imposter is. We need to find it before we have a repeat of today's events."

Silas nods in assent, "my technicians are already working on the problem. They are monitoring every satellite we have, but no word yet on how well they are progressing, although they have been able to narrow it down for us."

Starscream sits silently absorbing the info Megatron has given him on the imposter. No human could make something like that. They would need a Cybertronian with medical knowledge and no moral code whatsoever. He suddenly facepalms. Of course, the Autobots _do _have someone like that. Their medic Ratchet perfectly fits the bill. Add Wheeljack's large amount of know how and you have quite the team of mad scientists. "Megatron, that slagging butcher has finally done it. Ratchet has finally finished Project Chimera."

Megatron and the humans turn to him in surprise. "What do you mean?" Megatron asks his SIC.

Silas, however, beats him to the punch with wide eyes. "Do you really think so? They started working on it right before I left them. I knew they wanted to create a weapon against you, but I did not believe that it would be finished so soon."

Megatron nods thoughtfully. This added facet only makes things more complicated than they already need to be. He finally sighs, "We need to concentrate on finding it first, and then we will worry about destroying it."

The two other humans Silas had brought with him finally approach in Dreadwing's servos. Turning to Silas, they give their report, "sir, we have stabilized his condition and dressed the burns. He has several second-degree burns on his chest and another third-degree burn on his back. While the injuries sustained were dire, Jackson Darby will make a full recovery."

Jack looks close to falling over in shock. Silas looks at him in worry. "Jack, are you alright?"

Jack simply stares at the brown-haired version of himself. "That's me?"

Starscream sighs in near exasperation as he goes into his genus scientist mode, "Jack, you should not be surprised that there is a version of you in our universe. You said yourself that you knew other humans like Raf and Miko from your universe. What makes you think that there would not be a you on this side of the mirror?"

Jack merely shrugs at the almost curt reprimand, "I guess that it was just a surprise. I never really thought about it."

Silas suddenly touches a communicator in his ear and turns to Megatron, "I have conformation on your clone's whereabouts as well as co-ordinates. They did not see his arrival, but do have enough evidence to show that he is there. He is in an abandoned group of military warehouses. There has been no report of activity in them for several years, so it being an Autobot base is highly unlikely."

Megatron nods, quickly formulating a plan of attack. "Breakdown, Hardshell and Dreadwing. You are with me. The rest need to stay and recuperate under Knock Out's supervision. We will attack as soon as the three of you have refueled; you will need the strength."

Nods all around accompany his response as all move to do his bidding. Megatron turns to Silas, "we will possibly need backup and I was wondering if you would be willing to provide it."

Silas nods and turns to contact his men about the latest events unfolding in rapid procession.

* * *

The shadows surrounding the warehouses keep the large red Hummer from prying enemy eyes. It moves nearly silently from the shadows and into the moonlight, its headlights unfortunately giving it away to the humans watching from cameras attached to the nearby buildings. Inside one of the warehouses, the Controller, a young man from the Air Force and master drone pilot, readies his machine.

* * *

Breakdown, whose large frame belies the mech's ability to be incredibly sneaky, slips fluidly from building to building. He keeps thinking he hears the sound of footsteps, but never actually sees anything. Scowling, he misses the shadow following him in the blind spot caused by his missing optic. His shoulder cannon swivels, but not fast enough to block the massive fist from colliding with his face. Immediately, he tries to access his comm., but all he gets is static. The massive silver brute stands above him, red optics shining against the black of night. Galvatron's sword unsheathes from his arm before plunging into Breakdown's spark. He does not even get a chance to cry out before his spark extinguishes.

* * *

Dreadwing moves with an easy grace that is common to all Seekers, his cannon unattached from his back and ready to use. Optics flickering between shadows and open space, he creeps forwards, always on the look out for the imposter. He hears footsteps behind him and whips around, cannon at the ready… only to see Megatron behind him. He turns around, returning to his patrol when his 'leader' suddenly tackles him from behind. Dreadwing somehow manages to unsheathe his sword before his cannon is knocked away. Staring into those blood red optics, he feels a chill run down between his wings as they close behind him reflexively for protection. Instantly, the two large mechs begin their deadly dance with clashing swords and flying sparks. After a few blows, Galvatron finally lands a crushing strike to the Seeker's torso, sending him flying backwards into a nearby warehouse. The silver menace stalks away, knowing that the amount of damage sustained from a hit like that would not allow the jet to move anytime soon.

* * *

Hardshell hates scouting. His massive Insecticon body simply cannot be quiet, no matter how hard he tries. Scowling, he stalks along, grumbling under his breath at the thought of him acting silently. It was ridiculous! Insecticons just couldn't do it. His eye-catching, neon-blue paintjob did not help matters either. He often envies Megatron's ability to move near soundlessly even though they are nearly the same size. What were those sneaky humans in black called again? Ninjas? Right, that's what they're called. Megatron is like a ninja with his sneaky steps. He's even good at using a sword too.

The human controlling Galvatron makes him silently sneak up on his unsuspecting prey. The large mech is grumbling to himself about… ninjas? He shoots the Insecticon a surprised glance, before shrugging it off and charging to stab the bot in his back. Unfortunately for the attacker, he badly miscalculates the thickness of Insecticon armor causing his sword to merely skate off of the thick metal hide. Hardshell throws him off, but not before Galvatron manages to take off a large chunk of armor with his sword. The Insecticon screams in pain, optic band tinged with red as he charges his foe. Galvatron slides under the enraged bug and slices several neural lines, sending him crashing to the ground not far from him. Smirking at his handiwork, he melts into the heavy warehouse shadows, intent on his next prey.

* * *

Megatron arms his fusion cannon, keeping a careful watch on the shadows that heavily populate the formerly abandoned base. On full alert, he turns a corner and stops, his cannon humming in preparation to fire. There, before him is his latest archenemy, himself. Red optics meet blue with a clash of anger and determination. Galvatron is the first to speak, "Ah, Megatron. So nice of you to join me."

Megatron snarls at the imposter, "The deception ends here. You have taken enough lives already, do you really need to take more?"

Galvatron mock thinks for a few seconds before snapping his optics back to Megatron's, "Hmm, I believe the answer to your question is… yes." He charges forwards with a roar of anger, Megatron meeting him with a clash of swords.

* * *

Back on the _Nemesis' _bridge_, _Starscream contemplates the Galvatron problem. Yes, Ratchet and Wheeljack were good, but not good enough to create a _completely_ autonomous robot. Therein though lays the problem. The controller would need to be close to the shell, but not too close to the action to risk discovery. He glances at Soundwave, who is listening in on the duel between Megatron and Galvatron. Suddenly getting an idea, he turns to the communications expert eagerly, "Soundwave, do you think that you could isolate the frequency that is used to control the imposter?" Soundwave does not even look at him as he begins his search. Several seconds later, he isolates it and the location of the controller. He creates a map of the base and a blinking red dot appears where the control frequency is located. Starscream nods and orders; "Soundwave open a ground bridge to the location. I will find it and hopefully destroy it before it destroys anything else."

He turns to leave, but a recording of Knock Out's voice stops him in his tracks, "Starscream I am going to let you out, but no flying or any strenuous activities until that wing is healed. If you don't listen then I swear I will reformat you into a refrigerator!"

The irate jet turns to Soundwave with a snarl, "I know perfectly well what that medic said, but Megatron needs help. You and I are the only ones who are not confined to the med bay, and you need to stay here for communications."

Soundwave does not seem impressed and simply moves to block the ground bridge controls from the Seeker. About to argue with the silver mech, Silas, who has been on the bridge with the kids to listen in on the action, cuts him off.

"I'll go. There is a human element involved here, and in case you haven't noticed, I am a highly trained, formerly government-grade, human."

Starscream sends him a calculating look, before sighing, his wings drooping slightly in defeat. "Fine. Soundwave, fire up the ground bridge."

* * *

Silas easily jumps out of the ground bridge and turns to look at a clang of metal. The two Megatrons are currently hammering away at each other, dodging and striking with incredible force. Silas' cell phone rings in his pocket and he accepts the call as Starscream's voice speaks on the other side, "the signal seems to originate from a building one hundred yards to your left."

Silas glances in the indicated direction before thanking the jet and ending the call. He steps into the shadows and creeps toward the silo-like warehouse that hopefully houses the controls and controller of their latest headache.

* * *

Megatron watches Galvatron warily. The human in control has a good grasp of his machine's abilities as well as an astounding knowledge of Cybertronian combat skills. Although he has fought for millennia in the gladiatorial pits and against the Autobots, this human can still keep up with him easily. He dodges a sword thrust, then retaliates with several shots from his fusion cannon. Galvatron bares his sharp denta in a snarl as he charges Megatron, sword swinging in an attempt to sever the silver mech's head from his shoulders. He dodges, then returns the gesture with equal ferocity. They continue to slug away at each other, occasionally moving apart and using their fusion canons to fire a few shots. Eventually, Galvatron's cannon blasts a hole in one of the warehouses, unknowingly igniting several tanks of extremely volatile fluid, causing a massive explosion. Megatron manages to duck out of the way of both the cannon shot and ensuing explosion with ease, tackling his clone with a roar. Galvatron throws him off before he can even get a good grip, sending him sliding across the concrete with a screech and spray of sparks. He smirks at the downed and surprised Decepticon leader, "this robot chassis contains all of your strength, speed, and firepower. Combined with my extensive hand-to-hand combat training, I am truly the perfect combination of man and machine!"

Megatron scowls, not entirely understanding how he managed to throw him like that. Shrugging it off, he again charges, this time more careful of his enemy. They circle each other, then jump into battle again with a clash of swords. They continue fighting until Galvatron begins to climb the walls of a nearby silo. Megatron follows him, assuming a wrestling pose to move into hand-to-hand combat. The two titans meet with a clash and flying sparks. Galvatron suddenly smirks evilly leaning forwards slightly to speak softly in his foe's audios, "but the true difference between you and me is that I cannot feel pain." So saying, he unsheathes his sword from its previously sheathed position and stabs Megatron in the abdomen. The Decepticon gasps in pain as the clone rotates the sword cruelly in his wound, causing pain to shoot through his torso and cloud his processor. The sword is yanked out and he falls to his knees, bowing his head in pain as he tries to stem the flow of energon gushing from his wound. Galvatron stands above him, laughing maliciously at his enemy's weakness.

* * *

Inside the very building that Megatron and Galvatron are fighting on top of, Galvatron's controller watches the screen in front of him with spiteful glee. He smirks at the mech kneeling at his feet, or pedes as the robots call them. "Now you fall with the knowledge that you were defeated by a human, the very species you have sworn to protect. Such pathetic irony." He raises Galvatron's sword in readiness of the deathblow, but is stopped by a voice from behind him.

"Think again kid," Silas tells him as he saunters out of the shadows and next to the platform that houses Galvatron's controls.

The Controller scowls at the new arrival. "Agent Silas, I assume that you are here to help your large metallic friend out. Sorry to disappoint, but it seems that he is down for the count."

Silas cracks his knuckles and assumes a fighting stance preparing to confront the Controller. He glances at the monitor showing Galvatron's view. Megatron has yet to regain his pedes, but he seems to have control over his pain. Silas returns his gaze to the problem at hand and just manages to block a punch coming from the Controller. Silas returns the attack, but is blocked and hit in the small of his back. He stumbles forward, then turns and prepares to go at his opponent again. Again deflected, he stumbles, falling from a blow to the face.

The Controller smirks, shaking his head at the stupidity of this former agent. "Do you really believe that you can defeat me?"

Silas sits up, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth, "I wasn't trying to defeat you. I was just buying the big guy some time."

The Controller seems confused before realization sets in. He whips around, face slack with horror as Megatron prepares to deliver a full forced blow to the clone's faceplates. He dives forwards, barely managing to block the hit that would have completely caved in Galvatron's head. Unfortunately, his luck goes downhill from there. Megatron lands blow after blow, finally managing to force his clone onto its back. The Controller can only watch as Megatron jumps into the air, preparing to end this machine's destructive existence. He lands, shaking the building, sending Galvatron through the roof and crashing onto his Controller.

Silas looks up through the huge hole in the ceiling at Megatron, who is kneeling on the edge watching with a look of weary satisfaction. He suddenly glances over the tops of the warehouses, noticing helicopters approaching. Silas calls up, assuring the silver mech, "those are my boys. You should get back to your ship, we can handle clean up."

Megatron nods, too tired and weak to put up much of a fight. He comm.'s Soundwave, requesting a ground bridge and medical aide.

* * *

The Decepticons surround the berth supporting Breakdown's dead body. A massive hole gapes in his chassis, revealing the empty spark chamber. Knock Out is in shock that his partner and best friend is dead. Megatron and Arcee stand by his side as a comforting presence. Arcee can fully sympathize with the cyan Aston Martin, having lost several partners herself. Even the kids are sad that an ally is lost to the monster known as war. Suddenly, the med bay doors fly open, revealing a white and lavender femme with golden optics. She stares at the remains of the red mech on the berth, before giving an agonized wail as she rushes forward and throws herself on his body. Sobbing broken heartedly, the three pairs of extra legs attached to her back quiver with the force of her cries.

Megatron steps forwards to comfort the wailing femme with quiet condolences to her loss. Arcee stands in absolute shock, staring at the white femme now crying on Megatron's shoulder. "Airachnid?" she wonders in disbelief.

* * *

**AN- WOW, that was a looong chapter (5000+ words). Yup, Airachnid was Breakdown's sparkmate. I am SO evil, I know. Yes, Breakdown is STAYING dead. Sorry, but its true. Bit of trivia for this chapter, Raf almost had green eyes until I realized I was writing a Harry Potter. Not that I have anything against him or anything, its just that I think TF/HP crossovers are weird. Next chapter Arcee and Airachnid formally meet, the kids get their guardians, and Starscream and Arcee have a fluffy conversation. ;) TTFN, ta ta for now. **

**Please, please, please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN- Sorry this chapter took so long, but my muse decided that about halfway through the chapter was a good idea to leave me. *glares pointedly at muse* Anyways, this chapter is dedicated to Kitty Ghost cause I went with her idea. Thanks! Now, onto the chapter!**

******Oh yeah, I am now on deviantART! Same name so come check me out if you do or don't ****have a dA account.**

******Something I've been meaning to say for the past few chapters is Starscream's voice. He sounds kinda like G1 Perceptor; he speaks with a very slight English accent. **

**Btw, there is something pretty important in the ending Authors Note, so please read it.**

* * *

Chapter 5: To Those Who Have Been Lost

Silence coats the _Nemesis _like a dismal fog after Breakdown's death. A lone, blue femme contemplatively walks along the corridors, not really feeling like talking to anyone. She has a lot on her mind, namely the other femme residing on the warship. Arcee knew that she would eventually meet up with this Airachnid, but she had never guessed that it would be in such a dramatic way. She sighs, wondering how Jack is taking Airachnid's presence aboard the ship. Jack has also suffered under their Airachnid's psychotic whims, but at least his mother kept her life.

Rounding a corner, she accidently bumps into another form, sending them both sprawling. About to apologize, Arcee stops as her blue optics meet faceted gold ones. Both femmes stare at each other, surprised, until Airachnid regains her composure first. The white femme's optics harden as she attacks Arcee with a screech, aiming to kill. Arcee scrambles out of the way before regaining her pedes and unsheathing her arm blades, standing in a defensive position. Again, Airachnid attacks and Arcee desperately defends herself from the beyond angry femme. Fortunately, for the Autobot, Megatron and Starscream turn into the hallway just before Airachnid nearly skewers her opponent to the wall. Both mechs instantly rush in to pull the enraged femmes apart. Megatron gently yet firmly wraps his arms around Airachnid, mindful of her long brittle legs, while Starscream restrains Arcee in a similar manner.

"What is the meaning of this?" he calls, having difficulty holding onto the madly struggling femme. They both ignore him, too busy trying to get free and back to killing each other. "Airachnid, Arcee stop this nonsense right now!" he bellows, but is still unable to receive more than a passing glance from the two femmes. He sighs, then contacts Starscream, who is having equal difficulty in securing Arcee, through a silent comm., _take Arcee to her quarters please and see if you can figure out what set them off._ His SIC nods before hauling Arcee off down another corridor to the area of the ship where the personal quarters are located.

* * *

Starscream resolutely holds the kicking and profanity-screaming femme as he stalks to her quarters. Arcee is furious, for obvious reasons, but the Seeker believes that there is more to her outburst and anger than meets the optic. As they round a corner and into sight of the corridor leading to her quarters, Arcee finally gains coherency.

"Starscream _put me down!_ I need to get Jack before _she_ does! Do you have _any_ idea what she _did_ or will do to him? She almost _killed_ him and his mother! She _killed_ my first partner! You _seriously_ expect me to just _sit_ there and let her _go? _And _you_ aren't any better!" she continues. "_You_ killed Cliffjumper! Put me down so I can tear you apart!" She starts to sob and screech at him, still kicking her captor and protesting.

Starscream finally reaches her quarters with a sigh of relief. He gently places her on the floor and steps away. She whirls, optics filled with rage and attacks Starscream with her arm blades. He yelps and backs up, trying to reason with the berserk femme. Unfortunately, for the white Seeker, Arcee does not intend to listen to him, but instead forces him out of her quarters and forcefully hits the command for the door to close. Starscream merely stares at the door for a few seconds before turning to leave, shaking his helm in amazement at the Autobot femme.

* * *

Megatron takes Airachnid to a supply room just off the bridge. The door opens automatically for him as he enters and sets the white femme down. She keeps her optics on the floor, not looking at her leader. He watches her with slight disapproval, "Airachnid that was uncalled for. I know that you are hurting, but attacking one of our allies is not a good idea. You cannot use the excuse that you did not know she was here. Breakdown assured me he spoke to you about the arrangement. So why, oh why, did you attack her?"

Airachnid keeps her optics on the floor as Megatron waits for her answer. Finally, she speaks, her voice flat except for a hint of anger lacing it. "Megatron, she is an _Autobot._ Yes, she is an Autobot from another universe, but an Autobot nonetheless. No matter _how_ good she says she is, or _how_ much she has proved herself, I _cannot_ trust her with a clear conscience. She could turn around and betray us at _any moment_, yet you ask _me_ why I attacked that, that _monster?"_

Now she looks at Megatron, anger and defiance clearly in her optics. Her leader merely watches her calculatingly as though wondering how to placate the furious femme. He finally sighs, optics softening, "He really did a number on you didn't he."

She blinks at him, then realizes what he is speaking of. Hurt and anger well up in her golden optics and Megatron feels sorry for bringing it up again, but he knows he has too.

He continues, his voice a soft growl while taking on an almost pleading tone, "I do remember what happened between you and the Autobots, but Airachnid; you have not _seen _the way this Arcee acts around others; the way she acts around Jack and the other humans. She is _not_ one of the Autobots we know, of that I am sure. If you do not trust Arcee, then at _least_ trust Jack. After Hardshell and Breakdown rescued them, he was obviously terrified of us and for her. Bumblebee himself mocked Arcee for protecting him. Put yourself in her place Airachnid. They are in a new situation and with new allies they are used to fighting while their former comrades have already tried to kill them."

Airachnid again looks down, unable to find an answer and slightly seething. Megatron takes this as an invitation to deliver his last ultimatum, "I need you to go apologize to her."

The white femme snaps her helm up, shock written all over her faceplates. Spluttering, she finally finds her voice and begins to protest, but Megatron stops her.

"Yes, you will apologize for attacking her, no matter how unwilling you are." She falls silent, scowling at the floor.

"Fine," she snaps before stalking out of the room, almost running into Starscream on the way out. The white Seeker glances at her before his blue optics find something else in the room besides Megatron. Sitting on a ledge running the perimeter of the room are the kids not confined to the med bay; namely Jack who seems quite shocked at Airachnid's outburst.

Megatron does not turn to the scientist, as he seems to ask only himself, "Why did Primus see it fit to put two such strong willed femmes under my command? Why?"

Starscream sighs answering, "Maybe it is for them to find rest from their longings of revenge. It seems that Arcee is holding a grudge against the Airachnid from her universe in the same way that the ones from our universe have one. You do realize as well that we are not alone, nor were you and Airachnid during your talk with her, correct?"

Megatron turns to him, puzzled until Starscream nods in the kids' direction. He takes on a decidedly embarrassed air as he realizes what his SIC is talking about.

"I am very sorry that you had to hear that Jack. Believe me, she really does not hate _you _specifically, just Autobots in general. She was not happy about giving Arcee sanctuary and I am afraid that recent events have not endeared her any to the Autobots."

Jack nods, but looks perplexed, "what did the Autobots do to make her hate them so much?"

Megatron sighs, thinking back to the beginning of the war, "Airachnid was one of Ratchet's projects from before the time Optimus added him to his team. He and another scientist, Jetfire, were developing techno-organic technology. As the only successful experiment, she was subjected to some very inhumane tests. Thankfully, Starscream heard about her plight and we managed to stage a rescue. She joined our ranks and fought with us until RC and Tailgate, the two Autobot torturers, captured her. They needed information regarding the location of a battle, but Airachnid managed to escape before she spilled the information, albeit not before she was forced to kill Tailgate in self-defense. Ever since that day, RC and Airachnid have been bitter enemies, while allowing any Autobot join us is hard for her knowing what Ratchet and Jetfire did."

Jack nods contemplatively, "I understand Megatron. Arcee is a lot like her in that. She holds grudges for a long time and has a hard time letting go of them."

As he turns to leave, Megatron cannot help but chuckle quietly at the wisdom of the youth's words.

* * *

Brown eyes open to reveal a ceiling in a gaudy hue of bright purple. He groans and sits up, rubbing his head and glances down at his torso. It is covered in bandages, although from what wound he does not know. Glancing around, he notices that wherever he is, everything is super-sized with super-advanced technology. He wonders what happened and how he got here-wherever here is. Suddenly, a door in the wall slides open to reveal… three humans, two guys, one girl. He can recognize the younger boy and the girl; he knows them from the base, but the taller one is new to him. Thankfully, his berth is near the door so they do not need to walk far to reach the human sized ladder that was installed so they might reach the patient. They climb up onto his level with ease and walk to his side to sit down.

"Raf, Miko, where are we and who is this?" he gestures to the raven-haired youth currently sitting to his left with a serious expression on his face.

Miko grins and prepares to begin a highly condensed version of what has happened to them and who the other human on board is. "This is Jack and we are on an alien warship filled with giant alien robots that turn into cars and planes! How cool is that?"

He blinks then shoots Miko an incredulous look, "Miko, do you really expect me to believe that? I know you have a thing for telling stories, but this is overboard. You can stop pretending and tell me the truth."

Jack stares at his counterpart before asking quietly, "do you remember anything of the attack on the base?"

This causes him to pause. What did he mean the attack on base? What is he…? His memories suddenly come back in a blur. A giant silver robot with red eyes while fire and screams surround him. He groans from the memories, not liking them in the least.

"Yeah, I do." He glances at Miko wryly, "I guess that you were telling the truth, but what are we doing here? What do they want us for?"

Answering for them all, Knock Out walks in. "Ah, good to see that you are awake. To answer your question, nothing. You were in need of help, and we helped you. We always take care of our allies."

Jackson can only stare at the shiny cyan medic in awe. The mech's unique blue optics hold warmth and comfort in them, something his patients are always glad for. He checks over his patient then declares, "you are healed enough to move. Megatron would like to see all of you in the bridge; he's holding a meeting as we speak."

The human just nods, eyes huge. Knock Out picks him up very gently and transforms around him. He opens his passenger-side door to allow the other three teens inside his alt, then drives out of the med-bay and into the halls outside. Jackson stares at the purple metal around him in amazement as they drive through the massive warship. A set of doors opens up, allowing the medic and his passengers to enter the _Nemesis'_ bridge. Inside, Megatron stands at the head of a circle of the current crew of the Decepticon warship. All the kids, except for Jackson, climb out of Knock Out and onto the floor of the bridge. Knock Out transforms behind them, holding the remaining human in his open palm. He kneels, gently placing him with the other humans and backing away to close the circle. Jack moves to join his guardian who is glaring at Airachnid from across the circle. The other femme returns the look, optics narrowed.

Megatron grabs everyone's attention as he steps forwards and stoops, extending a clawed servo for the three humans in the middle of the circle. They glance at Jack, not sure what to do but he motions them forwards. Returning to Megatron, who is smiling kindly at them, they slowly step onto his servo and he gracefully returns to his full height, always conscious of the fragile humans in his palm. He turns to the assembled mechs and femmes, optics sweeping over them as though to ascertain his decision.

Finally, he speaks, "Decepticons, I have an announcement to make. As you know, we have three humans in our midst who need someone to watch them as they are on board this ship. To remedy this, I will assign guardians to each of them." He turns to Soundwave first, "Soundwave, you will be Rafael's guardian." The silent silver mech nods and holds out his own hand for Raf to climb on. Once safely in his servos, he is lifted to his guardian's shoulder and place there gently. Next, Megatron turns to Airachnid. "Airachnid, your charge will be Jackson." Both look at the other in surprise and the femme makes no move to claim her charge.

"But, but sir!" she splutters, not entirely agreeing with her leader. He merely shoots her a look before continuing.

"Dreadwing, you will have full responsibility over Miko." The gold jet seems surprised, then nods in acceptance as Megatron hands over the human femme. She grins up at him as he looks down at her dubiously. "Now that we have that settled, I encourage you all to get to know the other. You will, after all, be in each other's company quite often now." They nod and leave, filing out until only Megatron and Starscream remain.

The white Seeker glances at his leader in some surprise, "do you really think that it is a good idea to let Airachnid become a guardian so soon after she lost Breakdown?"

Megatron sighs, "yes, I do. Hopefully it will help with her loss."

* * *

Starscream strolls through the halls of the _Nemesis _deep in thought, his pedes unconsciously taking him to the one place he could think best when grounded. His wings flick in irritation at the thought of his period without flight. He scowls as his gate quickens, needing the fresh air of the flight deck to clear his mind and his claustrophobia. A lift takes him to the very spine of the massive warship, depositing him in the middle of the highest part of the _Nemesis. _This particular part of the ship always has a nice breeze moving over it, giving the antsy Seeker a feeling of flight if he just closes his optics and allows his mind to wander. Stepping to the edge of the bow, he allows his wings to open up slightly, the wind brushing along them like an invisible lover's strokes. A sigh of contentment escapes him and he stands, enjoying the closest he will get to flight until his wing is fully healed. The wind suddenly dies down and Starscream scowls in annoyance until he realizes they are picking up energon from one of their secret mining ops. Satisfied, he continues to relax as the ship picks up its new cargo and starts moving again, generating the cool breezes he so loves about this planet.

He suddenly hears quiet pede falls behind him, the lightness signifying the owner to have a small frame. Only one on board this ship has the frame size needed for such light steps. Turning, he spies the blue form of Arcee who looks slightly embarrassed at her un-stealthy approach. A smile graces his features and he steps aside invitingly, allowing her the space to join him on his perch. She takes the offer, albeit slightly hesitantly. Once next to him, she watches the rocky forest flash by underneath the ship, almost making her dizzy. They stand in silence until Starscream decides to break it.

"What brings you up here? As one who stays on the ground, I would think that you would not enjoy these heights."

She just shrugs, "I like to feel the wind. It's peaceful and quiet up here."

Starscream nods, a sad smile crossing his features. "Unfortunately, that is the way most of the ship is these days."

"What do you mean?"

"The Decepticons have not always had so few warriors. On Cybertron there were many who decided to follow Megatron, my self included. Unfortunately, many more followed Optimus, then Orion, in his quest for power. Those that he wanted for his side were asked to join. Most agreed, but a few refused." Here Starscream stops, head and wings bowed as he remembers the past. Arcee watches, wondering what the punishment was for those who refused.

"What happened to the ones who said no?" she asks.

"Most were killed. I was lucky enough to escape before they could come for me. But they destroyed Crystal City." He stops again, optics closed as memories rush through his mind's eye. "My trinemates were in the city at the time. Orion forced me to watch as the city collapsed and the trine bonds snapped. He was hoping to break me, and he almost did. I joined Megatron's small gathering of freedom fighters and was soon able to climb the ranks into his Second In Command."

Silence falls between the two until the blue femme breaks it. "Why did you live in CrystalCity?" she asks, curious as to why such a warrior-like mech would live in one of the largest science communities on Cybertron.

Her companion flashes a sad smile, "Because I was a scientist before the war. Still am for that matter. After Skywarp and Thundercracker's deaths, I began to train for battle. As it turned out, I was one of the best fliers in Megatron's ranks."

More silence then, "What were Skywarp and Thundercracker like?"

A soft chuckle escapes Starscream, "Skywarp was by far the most peaceful and gentle sparked mech I have ever met. He was calm and controlled, always thoughtful and philosophical. Thundercracker on the other hand was his extreme opposite. Hot headed and always ready to spring a joke or prank on someone. His color scheme was as loud as his personality. I will never know what possessed him or the artist who gave it to him to use those colors. Skywarp was often annoyed by TC's incessant cheerfulness, but I do believe he secretly loved it when he was wrangled into a prank."

A fond smile crosses Starscream's lips as he remembers his trinemates. He then turns to his companion, "now, I have told you quite a bit about myself, but what about you? I know you have already lost two partners, but what else is there to your life?"

So, Arcee spills her life story out to the mech who by all rights she should hate and despise. How she grew up in Iacon, her life at the academy and during the war. About Tailgate's death and her season of grief afterwards. Then she moves on to her time on Earth, Cliffjumper's death, and Jack's new role as her partner. Finally, she finishes, feeling slightly self-conscious at the Seeker's lack of words. When he does finally speak, he seems sad, but thoughtful as though knowing that she should hate him.

"Arcee, I know that you are in a very tough situation, and that by all rights should hate my very essence, but you are not. Not everyone is strong enough to do that and for which I admire you greatly." He smiles now, a genuine, spark-felt smile of encouragement. "And I thank you for your trust in me to share your history."

Arcee nods thoughtfully, fully prepared to thank him when an unexpected thing happens. Several of the engines blow, sending fireworks of debris and fire high into the air. The ship lists to the side before plunging lazily to the ground. Starscream pulls the femme down, digging his talons securely into the deck, holding them both steady against the immanent crash.

* * *

**Yup, a cliffie! So that important note I told you about earlier is that until my muse comes back from Hawaii, this story is on hiatus. Yes, you heard that right, hiatus. I have several G1 bunnies just nibbling for my attention as well as another Prime muse that has been stewing for several months now and just decided that she was done and was ready for some fun. As soon as inspiration comes knocking at my door, then I will be more than happy to continue, but until then, I am so sorry! It should be back by late summer though, but try not to expect anything before then. **

**And another note, I redid the first two (soon to be three) chapters, so if you see any inconsistencies, just pm or review me the problem and I will be more than happy to fix it.**

**Trivia for this chapter: SG Thundercracker really does have a horrible color scheme. **

**Thank you my faithful readers and May the 4th be with you! (national Star Wars day is today)**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN- This is what I love about summer, I can get my chapters out a month early.**

**So, remember that cliffie from last chapter? Yeah, well you're gonna have to wait until the next chapter to resolve it. *shrug* Sorry. On the upside, this is an entire chapter dedicated to the Autobots! Yay! Hope you guys like it and I will get the next chapter finished as quickly as I can.**

Destiny's Child

A black silver and orange McLaren MC4-12C purrs along a highway in northern Nevada, the scrubland flashing past it at incredible speeds. Miles from civilization, an exotic sports car seems out of place in the state's wastelands. Pulling onto a dirt road, it follows the unpaved track until a great trapdoor in the ground opens for it. Once an abandoned human laboratory, the government allowed their new allies access to the lab as a base of operations after they turned up on Earth. Now it is filled to the brim with an alien army, their metallic footsteps ringing throughout the base as they go about their duties.

Underneath the earth, the car's plates break apart and rearrange themselves to transform it into a red-opticked mech, his proud doorwings with their screen-printed 38s held high as he stalks to the epicenter of the base. Dark red drones scurry out of his way as he passes, knowing from experience that retribution would be swift to the ones who did not move quickly. Hanging a left, he hears the specific sound of deranged muttering as he passes a reinforced door with a Cybertronian "Red Cross" of sorts sloppily painted on it. It seems that Ratchet is back in business after his long absence. A shudder runs through his body at the remembrance of their last meeting. Ratchet is well known for his creative experimentations with a Cybertronian's frame. Smokescreen himself has a little memento from one of the insane mech's "good ideas".

Storming into the drone-filled command center, he scowls at its noticeable lack of Autobot warlord. His scowl turns into a sneer at his leader's absence. "So much for having a busy schedule. When _I _am leader, I will not leave my supporters waiting for me. Oh no, I will be punctual, well respected and feared." A smirk crosses his face. "After all it _is _my destiny."

On those last words, he turns around to find himself face to face with Optimus Prime. He blinks in surprise, detachedly wondering how the _frag_ he managed to sneak up on him like that. Wheeljack must be giving him lessons. A dark scowl is on the false Prime's faceplates, arms crossed over his purple chassis, giving him a very threatening look. The mech in front of him cowers slightly, his wings folding down into a submissive and frightened posture. The drones at work momentarily stop to glance at their leader and his SIC. With any luck, this would be quite the show.

"Smokescreen, precisely what were you saying about _you_ waiting on _me?_ _You _were the one late. _I_ have been waiting for _you _ever since I contacted you, _Destiny's Child_." Optimus' voice is a deep rumble chalk full of poison, sending prickles of fear down Smokescreen's spinal strut. The Prime is in a very bad mood. The Praxian's glossy black wings try to fold lower, staying well away from Optimus. He is well known for mutilating wings in anger and punishment, something Prowl could attest to as well, if he was still alive. Unfortunately, Smokescreen's older brother was nowhere to be found, having betrayed his leader with Jazz and running off to parts unknown. Now Smokescreen is the lucky mech chosen to stand at Optimus Prime's right hand, which coincidently is the one he prefers to use for throttling.

"Oh nothing, my Prime. I was just commenting on your punctuality," he answers nervously, shuffling out of arms and blades reach. "You did ask me here to tell me something did you not?"

Optimus' optics narrow, but his voice stays level, noticing the abrupt subject change, but choosing to say nothing about it. "Yes I did. I am sending you on a scouting mission with Bumblebee and Bulkhead."

Now Smokescreen's optics narrow, trying to discern why he is sending him with those two. They might be the best Autobot scouting team, but couldn't Optimus just send a pack of drones instead? Very suspicious to his mind, but the plot he is sure is brewing would show itself in time. He is, after all, a very patient mech.

Bowing, he turns, wings returning to their normal rigidly straight posture as he stalks away. Optimus stands surveying the drones as they quickly return to their work, disappointed that their afternoon's worth of entertainment was unexpectedly cancelled. At an unseen command, an inky-black piece of shadow detaches itself from the wall and glides over to its leader's side. Optimus shows no recognition of the mech's presence until he gains confirmation of the scouting trio's departure through a ground bridge.

"He is getting too full of himself. Follow them and make sure that they succeed. He is a liability to our cause and all that we stand for." The silent mech next to him nods and disappears back into his beloved shadows, on his way to making sure those idiots did not mess up in the same manner as when they did with the mysterious blue femme. Optimus smirks. He learned long ago that it pays to have a third-in-command who is a loyal and highly trained assassin.

* * *

"Fragging forest filled with fragging trees and fragging animals covered in fragging muck and with out a fragging signal in sight. I hate my job and my bosses and this stupid mission. But at least I'll have only Optimus as my superior soon," go the mutterings of a waspish Bumblebee. His formerly pristine plating is now covered in mud, sticks, and leaves from the recent rain shower. The first thing he is going to do when he gets back is to hit the washracks. All his special cleansers and soaps sitting in a perfect row brighten his mood somewhat, although he still has to do his job before he can get to them. "Alright Bulk, let's get this over with," he murmurs to his partner. Powering up their blasters they take careful aim at the receding pair of black door wings and fire.

Smokescreen glances at his scanner, wondering why Optimus sent him on this stupid mission. Bumblebee and Bulkhead could handle it; they were a scouting team for a reason. Not to mention that he could not find a single trace of energon. _Not a trace._ His sensitive wings suddenly twitch at an energy flux resembling those associated with blasters powering up. He glances at his helpers just in time to see several bolts of energy heading his way courtesy of his "loyal" companions. Dodging behind a rock outcropping nearby, he opens fire on his attackers, managing to hit both of them quickly. He smiles smugly at the speed he was able to take them out with and sends a silent thank you to Bluestreak for all the hard training. A snarl then forms on his faceplates as realization hits. They tried to kill him! About to stalk over to the two who dared to try to assassinate _him_, their SIC, a katana hitting a tree right where he was standing a few seconds ago stops him. He freezes, fear sending icy shivers down his back strut. Only one mech has that kind of weapon. And only one mech controls him. Fiercely loyal to Optimus Prime alone and known as one of the best assassins on Cybertron, Smokescreen almost doesn't stand a chance against his new opponent.

The only warning of the coming attack is the slight rustle of leaves as the mech drops to the ground, landing in a silent Spiderman-style crouch. Matte and shiny black armor with a battle mask covering the lower half of his face and red optics smoldering like embers, Wheeljack sends off an aura of mystery. Pulling his missing sword out of the tree, he assumes a fighting stance as Smokescreen assumes his own. Both mechs face off, each tense and ready for any attack. Smokescreen is a fair fighter, able to hold his own against Cliffjumper or even RC, but Wheeljack has much more experience, training and natural ability. There is only one thing to do, and even that has a slim chance of succeeding.

Wheeljack suddenly decides that he has let his prey plot long enough and attacks, swords singing as they bite through the air. Smokescreen barely dodges, allowing a hidden set of knives to drop from his wrists. He parries and strikes, swirling with a deadly grace around his opponent. Wheeljack is no different. Highly trained in the art of close-range fighting, he knows that this upstart has no chance against him. He was a Wrecker! The best of the best in raw fighting skill and determination. That this high and mighty Elite Guard mech would outwit him did not even cross his processor. That is, until Smokescreen pulls out several small round objects from his subspace and throws them at Wheeljack. They hit the ground and burst with a flash and smoke clouds rise to thicken the air. The night-black assassin glares in the smog, trying to ascertain his enemy's position. But Smokescreen hides his spark signature and sneaks away, out of the assassin's range, before transforming and leaving the area, seething in fury that Optimus wanted to get rid of him. Him! Why would he want to kill one of his most valuable officers? Why? But those are questions for another time. Now he just has to find shelter and a good supply of energon while he plots his revenge. Fortunately, for him, he has his optic on a worthy place.

Behind him, Wheeljack snarls quietly as he sheaths his katanas and stalks to the two idiots who were _supposed _to kill the former SIC, but failed miserably. Pit, even_ he_ had underestimated the wily Praxian. Prowl had taught him well. There was only one way to escape this little failure alive and that required a little bit of processor manipulation. He opened a data port in each of the two unconscious mechs and plugged in with his own cords. Within seconds, he had bypassed all their firewalls and began to rearrange and fabricate memories to fit with what he had in mind. Now the two would only remember what the ninja had put in there, which was that these two were incorrigible bunglers. Sure it might be a lie, but what Optimus didn't know would not hurt him, and in this army, it is a classic case of survival of the fittest. With a satisfied noise, Wheeljack pulls himself from their simplistic processors and opens a ground bridge, dragging the hapless duo to their fate at the hands of a very unhappy warlord.

* * *

Smokescreen drives along another dusty road, miles from human civilization. He is following an energon signal and this seems like a very good opportunity to refuel. After a week on his own after Optimus' betrayal, he has barely been scratching a survival from the energon mines he can find, although he did know where an old Autobot ship is located that crashed on Earth long ago. Optimus had sent him to locate it and a weapon that was said to be hidden on it. Unfortunately, the Decepticons had managed to grab it after a shape-shifter had revealed himself to be who they thought was Wheeljack. Fortunately they killed him, but that little episode of craziness is definitely not on his list of things he would like to repeat.

Suddenly, a large hole in the ground signifies the entry into an energon mine. _Hmm, so this is where Megatron keeps one of his little mining ops. Very interesting indeed. _He transforms at the side and observes the shaft. It appears to travel straight down into blackness. The only way to the energon is to scale down the shaft and then back up when he has the fuel he needs. Sighing, he decides that there is no alternative and begins the arduous climb. Almost half-way down, he feels the vibrations that a certain 'Con warship releases when its anti-gravs take effect. He looks up and straight at the belly of the _Nemesis._ The vibrations shake him loose from the wall and he falls, landing on his doorwings with a squawk of pain before blacking out.

* * *

A groan leaves his vocalizer as Smokescreen sits up and takes in his surroundings. _Great. It appears that I am now in the energon hold of the Decepticon warship. Just the perfect way to sum up my perfect week. _His doorwings twitch and he winces from the pain. With any luck, his self-repair systems should make short work of the damages, but until then, he has to put up with an annoying dull ache between his wings. He has had worse injuries to them before, so he will live, albeit, unhappily. Glancing around, he grabs several cubes of the brightly glowing liquid and stashes them in his subspace pocket, deciding that he might as well get some while he can. Taking another for the road, he steps out into the hall and into the bowels of the massive ship. He sips his energon as he sneaks along the halls of the warship, watching for anyone who might decide that they have business way down in the dark. About to turn a corner, he stops short when he hears voices floating from the hall he was about to turn into.

* * *

"Jackson, I don't think this is the right way."

"Awe common, Miko, where's your sense of adventure?"

Earlier, Jackson had finally convinced Miko to go exploring with him around the ship. They had seen the crew quarters, the rec room, the armory and even the large room that had once housed the Insecticon hive. Only Hardshell was there now and he had welcomed them in for a bit as they talked. As the last of his kind, he often felt lonely and enjoyed the two humans' company immensely. His soft spark and kind nature bellied his large size and fierce appearance, making many keep their distance from the large mech, unwilling to see the individual underneath the thick armor.

After exiting the hive, Jackson had decided to take a look at the lower levels of the ship. Now they are lost, uncertain where to even begin to look for an exit. Jackson is being his usual cocky self, while Miko is a little on the nervous side, not enjoying the lack of her golden guardian. Dreadwing and Miko are getting along famously, Dreadwing's carefully hidden exuberance and short temper complimenting Miko's shyness and patience perfectly. After the attack by Galvatron, Miko had refused to leave Dreadwing's side when he was on board the ship, only separating from him when he went on patrol. The large Seeker has also enjoyed her company, finally showing his true nature to someone other than his deceased twin, Skyquake.

On the other hand, Jackson's guardian had shut him out, and only interacted with him if it was unavoidable. Not that Jackson minded too much, a giant spider was not on his "Guardians I Dream Of" list. Even if she was part of a race of giant, transforming alien robots, he just couldn't get the spider part out of his head. Now his overly large ego is telling him that he knows perfectly where he is going and that they are _not _lost, despite appearances to the contrary.

"So if we aren't lost, then which way do we turn, left or right?" Miko asks with a slight tremor in her voice.

Jackson stops, looking contemplatively to the left and to the right before making his decision. "We go left." Miko follows him, wondering why she even agreed to come along. Maybe Raf had the right idea of staying with his guardian. The two techies seemed to understand each other quite well, their love for technology and such making them a very effective team with Raf's intimate knowledge of the human internet and Soundwave's hacking genius. Sighing, Miko hunches her shoulders, wishing she were back with Dreadwing, who should be back from patrol by now and is probably worried sick over his missing charge. They continue down their hallway, never realizing how close they pass to death.

* * *

Smokescreen releases a vent, thankful that they had not turned down his hallway. An Autobot he might be, but he did not enjoy squishing humans. Their gooey insides got everywhere and were a pain in the aft to clean up. He turns down the hallway the Decepticons' pets came from and slowly works his way to the aft of the ship and the engine room. His plan is to destroy the power core and with any luck, strand the ship on the ground, leaving the Decepticons grounded and without protection. A very good idea if he says so himself. Now the only problem is finding the power core. He searches the hallways, looking for the door that will lead him to his prize. _Why can't these Decepticons label their doors like we do? Although, they don't have any idiotic drones to worry about. _A wince accompanies this thought as he remembers the original reason they started to label their doors. A drone had accidently gotten the directions for the firing range mixed up. Instead of going to the range to practice, he used the energon hold instead. The ensuing explosion had destroyed a good portion of one of their bases on Cybertron. Optimus had been furious and Prowl called for the issue of door plaques to ensure that it did not happen again.

Now Smokescreen finally gets lucky. A door slides open to reveal the power core, the blue light dancing around the room and reflecting off boxes of energon as it is fed to the massive machine. He watches it, slightly awed by the massive amount of parts working in tandem and the amount of power generated to enable this massive hunk of metal to fly. But he needs to get to work on disabling it. He kneels on the floor, transforming his right arm into an ion canon that would have Ironhide jealous. Actually, Ironhide helped him stabilize it when Ratchet went all "mad scientist" on Smokescreen after his arm was blown off in a battle. Now he has a very high-powered canon that could blow off not only his arm if he fires it in the wrong circumstances. For the first time, he is glad to have the massive canon attached to him. No conventional arm-weapon would be able to overload the power core, so unconventional is the way to go.

He steadies the massive canon with his other servo and aims, firing at the chamber. It explodes in a wave of blue flames, setting off multiple other explosions and alarms as the energy races towards the engines. Only three engines blow though, allowing the other five to somewhat slow the falling ship. Smokescreen braces himself as they plummet onto the edge of a very large canyon, roughly jolting all who are on board at the violent stop. Standing with a smirk, the crash's instigator transforms and races away from the grounded and smoking ship. As he leaves, he could have sworn that he saw a hint of white and blue close to the bow of the crashed _Nemesis. _He merely thinks it is debris, and drives away.

**AN- Next chapter we will find out what happens to Starscream and Arcee. Also, I'm going to bring in six new characters next chapter, so it will be very busy. Trivia for this chapter: the working title for this was Pulling a Starscream. Please review, they keep my muse going strong.**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN- Finally, the cliffhanger is put to rest while I give you a little surprise at the end. And a hyperactive chipmunk. Plus a healthy dose of LOLcat speak. Don't worry, it will make sense by the end of the chapter. Hope you enjoy this monster.**

* * *

Comrades in Arms

:Starscream, Knock Out, Dreadwing, status report! Airachnid, Arcee, Hardshell, what are your locations? Starscream, where are you? Starscream! Slag it all, what happened to you?:

Megatron scrambles to his pedes, barking orders through his comm. as Soundwave and Raf work with the computers to bring up damage reports. Usually, Starscream is the first on the comm. channels, restoring order in his usual precise way. Now his voice is nowhere to be heard, something that worries Megatron to no end. Airachnid and Hardshell finally ping him their locations while Knock Out is the first to report.

:A little shaken up, but functional. Medbay has the same status.:

Dreadwing calls in next. :Safe and sound sir. Jack and I are looking for Jackson and Miko. Do any of you know where they are?:

Hardshell answers the query, :They were with me at one point. I can track them down.: A ping of thanks answers this before Starscream's voice shakily fills the comm. channels.

:Starscream reporting in sir. Arcee and I are alive, but she is unconscious. Do we have any intel on what caused the explosion?:

Megatron turns to where Soundwave is deducing the source of their ship's crash. The resident tech-head searches the surveillance cameras and pulls up a clip on his facial monitor. On it, a black mech with doorwings uses a massive arm canon to blow the power core, setting off the explosion that grounded the ship. Soundwave zooms in to get a clearer image of their ship's saboteur. Megatron raises an eye ridge at the identity of this mech. What was Optimus Prime's SIC doing on _his_ warship? "Soundwave, isolate and fix the breach in security." Then he answers his Second, :Yes, we do. It appears that Smokescreen somehow managed to enter and sabotage our ship. How he was able to even get on unnoticed currently is a mystery though.:

:Understood. I am presently making my way to your location with Arcee. We shall be with you momentarily.:

Now Knock Out joins them from his med bay, while Soundwave returns to his work. Dreadwing, Hardshell and all four of the humans enter the bridge with Airachnid following behind. Megatron paces across the bridge looking worried. "Dreadwing, please find and assist Starscream with Arcee. I am assuming at least one of them is wounded."

The gold Seeker nods, before turning to find the wayward SIC. Knock Out looks contemplative as his medically oriented processor calculates and catalogues the damages sustained to the crew and ship. "Megatron, how will we manage to get the ship back up and running? We do not have enough qualified individuals or the parts needed to repair the damages."

Megatron starts to answer when Raf speaks up from where he is sitting on a consol. "Hey guys, do you know what this stuff is? I found it just before the crash, but I'm not sure what it is. It looks like energon, but it's red." He pulls up an image of a quarry with a large protrusion that looks like a red energon crystal in the center. Several construction vehicles are in the picture as well, giving them a sense of scale to the size of the crystal.

Knock Out and Megatron look at each other, blink, then back to Raf. "What are the coordinates?"

Raf shrugs then sets about finding the information Megatron asked for. Meanwhile, the medic turns back to Megatron, "if it really is Red Energon, then do you think that it will work? I know that it can allow a mech to travel at nearly the speed of light and can help speed recovery from a wound. But do you think it can really restore our ship?"

"I do not know. Starscream will need to run a few tests before we can be sure. Until then, Optimus Prime must not be allowed to gain access to the Red Energon. It could become a-"

"What tests will I need to perform?" Starscream asks as he limps onto the bridge. His white plating is covered in dust and dents while one wing, the one Knock Out recently patched up, is crumpled like an accordion _again_. The second in command definitely looks worse for wear, while Arcee, who Dreadwing is looking none to happy about carrying, seems to have only a few dents and dirty plating. About to launch into a blistering tirade for injuring his wing _for the second time_, Knock Out steps forwards, but Starscream holds up a servo to stop him. "Knock Out, I am acutely aware of the mess I am and my wing hurts like the Pit, so please leave your verbal abuse until after we are airborne. Then you can use your vast knowledge of vocal maltreatment to your spark's content. Until then, please stay away." Knock Out pauses, then snaps his jaw shut, glaring at the Seeker who dares to undermine his medical authority.

Starscream turns to Megatron, who is watching the SIC and CMO have their "conversation". He hides a smile at the slightly peeved look on Starscream's visage and the murderous glare aimed at the Seeker as the medic turns to tend to Arcee.

"Yes Starscream, I do need you to run a few tests for me. It appears that Raf has found some Red Energon that could return our ship to working order. Unfortunately we do not know for sure, requiring you to test if it has the healing powers needed."

Looking thoughtful, the white Seeker goes into his "brilliant scientist" mode, "actually, no tests are needed. The Red Energon Raf has managed to locate will greatly speed the self-repair process of the ship, which have needed it for some time actually, but more on that later. Now we need to find and return the substance to the ship. Is the ground bridge still operational?"

Soundwave nods from his station while Raf inputs the coordinates for the ground bridge. Megatron turns to his loyal followers, quickly taking in the level of damage on each. "Dreadwing, Hardshell, Airachnid. You three are with me. Starscream, you are in desperate need of repairs _so let Knock Out repair you!_ I am not taking no for an answer, now sit down, hush up and don't move until you are granted permission by our medic, do you understand? I need you to be fully operational in case of an attack. Until then Soundwave is in charge." Starscream sputters in indignation; completely missing the smirk shared between medic and leader, but does as he is told. The temporary SIC nods and fires up the ground bridge, allowing his comrades to dash through to the other side.

* * *

Megatron steps out of the ground bridge, his cannon humming as it charges. He glances around, taking in his surroundings. They appear to have bridged onto the edge of a human quarry; abandoned construction vehicles litter the floor below. In the center of the quarry, several Vehibots are beginning the arduous process of mining the highly volatile red energon. Standing to the side, observing and directing his troops, is Optimus Prime in all his evil glory. Next to him is Ratchet. The psychotic Dark Energon-high scientist/medic is in a tizzy over the supposed carelessness of the drones in handling his latest toy. Hardshell, Dreadwing and Airachnid follow their leader to the edge, examining the scene before them. Megatron outlines his battle plan to the other three and they nod, getting into position. With a fortifying breath, the mighty leader of the Decepticons stands in full view of the Autobots, Hardshell and Dreadwing flanking him.

* * *

Optimus Prime rarely joins his soldiers on a mission, but today is different. With Ratchet leading this operation and the highly volatile material involved, it is a good idea to be at the sight in person. There is, of course, the small chance of discovery by the Decepticons and Ratchet blowing something sky-high. Megatron knows that Optimus would put the substance to use as any number of things ranging from explosives to steroids. And of course, mister goody-two-shoes would want to stop his evil counterpart from having fun. Typical.

Speaking of whom, a voice calls from the edge of the quarry. "Optimus Prime!"

Optimus turns lazily, a bored expression visible without the cover of his battle mask. Whipping around, Ratchet stares wide-opticked at the source of the hail. Megatron stands on the edge of the quarry, his remaining Insecticon and Dreadwing standing on either side. "Ah, Megatron. So glad you joined the party. I'm assuming you want a little bit of my prize, correct?"

"Preferably all of it," Megatron retorts, jumping from the cliff edge to stand level with his arch nemesis. Dreadwing and Hardshell follow, landing behind their leader, waiting for orders. Optimus smirks before closing his battle mask and engaging his weapons.

"Well, then. You will have to claim it as your own." Megatron and Optimus charge forwards with simultaneous roars while Dreadwing and Hardshell begin the attack on the other Autobots. The two leaders duel with unmatched ferocity, dealing hefty blows and blocks to the other combatant. A slash, a parry, a dodge, a hack, each attack and resulting counter ooze with the grace and power of the perfect pair of adversaries. Megatron can feel the thrill of battle singing through his circuits, heightening awareness and speed. Feeling no different, Optimus enjoys the deadly elegance of the battle, bringing memories of before the war briefly to mind. Before he took up the sword as his symbol, before the energon of thousands covered his servos. When Megatron was Megatronus and he was Orion Pax. The former gladiator was a good teacher, something both himself and Starscream could attest to considering their peaceful backgrounds and current prowess.

A narrow evasion of Megatron's blade swiftly brings Optimus back to the present and the task at hand. Parrying and thrusting, he locks his blade with Megatron's, leaving the two titans heaving with exertion and the desire to win the upper hand. Airachnid's voice suddenly fills Megatron's audio as her comm. comes in to her leader. :I have done my part:

Optimus narrows his optics as Megatron suddenly smirks from across their locked weapons. "What are you up to Megatron."

The Decepticon leader somehow manages an innocent look to accompany his answer, "me? Up to something? How insightful of you." A twist of a blade, some fancy footwork, a good, hard push and Megatron disengages from Optimus. The Prime glares, a snappy retort at the ready to sear Megatron's audios when a muffled _schlulp_ grabs his attention. He stiffens, realizing that in the middle of his battle rage he had forgotten entirely about Ratchet and the Red Energon. Oops. He slowly turns around, still keeping an optic on Megatron, to see Ratchet out cold with Hardshell and Dreadwing standing between him and his glorious Red Energon; or, its former location anyways. Where the large crystal once sat, now is merely a gaping hole in the ground. The truth hits him like a rampaging Insecticon. Only one bot could pull off a heist like that: Airachnid. Optimus starts to laugh, a deep, creepy chuckle, that quickly rises into a spine-tingling, full out evil cackle that leave most mechs wondering what horrible thing resides in the Prime's vocalizer to create a sound like that.

"Well done Megatron! You are learning the art of deception to live up to your faction's name. I congratulate you." Optimus removes his mask to reveal a predatory smile underneath the accessory. "Now, I will leave you and take my scientist with me. Your deception was perfect and I do not want to spoil it for me with another round of pointless fighting. So long!" With that, a ground bridge opens, allowing a squad of drones to stream forth and Optimus to make his retreat. Several of the drones grab Ratchet and follow their leader while the others cover them. The three Decepticons fight back, following the very last until the bridge closes. Silence reigns over the clearing as the three warriors come down from their battle highs and regain their normal composure. Megatron seems disturbed by something, causing Dreadwing to send him an inquiring look.

Catching it, Megatron sighs, glancing at where the Autobots had disappeared through their ground bridge. "Was Optimus right? Am I really becoming what I have always fought against?"

Dreadwing shakes his helm, a stubborn look on his faceplates. "No, you are not. Optimus was just playing his usual mind games with you. Believe me, if you were any closer to becoming an Autobot, we would have told you. We are almost family you know." Megatron nods, sending a ground bridge request to Soundwave.

The glowing portal swooshes open and the three comrades step through, their spirits jovial and accomplished now that they had the means to repair their ship.

* * *

Soundwave's ground bridge lands them in the power core chamber, where it seems every one else on board has decided to congregate. Knock Out and Starscream bicker about the best way to temporarily patch the core while Soundwave and Raf calibrate the surrounding machinery. Jackson and Airachnid stand next to the Red Energon, discussing the properties of the large crystal nearly twice the size of the spider. Smiling, Miko runs to her guardian and hugs his pede with open arms. A chuckle escapes the gold jet as he scoops her up and places her gently onto his shoulder. Finally deciding on a course of action, Starscream and Knock Out break up their argument, sending the Seeker to work on the patch and the medic to check over Megatron and his team.

With wonder and a little trepidation, Jack watches the frantic activity around him from his perch on a stack of crated energon. He can remember a time in his universe like this one. Bulkhead had crashed the Nemesis, causing Megatron to use Dark Energon to revive and restore the ship. Unfortunately, the ship turned out to be a very large, sentient being known as Trypticon. The massive Decepticon had been a little unhappy about taking orders from Megatron, freezing all of the Cybertronians who dared defy him, Megatron included. In the end, Jack and the Raf and Miko from his universe had finally put Trypticon on ice by removing the Dark Energon from him to shut down his conscious. Jack certainly does not want to have to do anything like that again, although he has hopes that either this ship is not Trypticon or the universe switch worked on him as well.

Megatron watches the dark haired teen. A slightly worried and thoughtful frown decorates his features, causing the Decepticon leader to muse about Jack's thoughts. Once Knock Out finishes his less than gentle ministrations Megatron turns and strolls over to the human. "Is anything wrong Jack? You look apprehensive. Is something bothering you?"

A startled jump and the youth looks up into Megatron's genuinely concerned optics. Brilliantly blue optics, not burning scarlet, that hold nearly as much wisdom in them as the Optimus from his world. "Yeah, I guess. I'm just a little worried about what will happen when the _Nemesis _comes back online. This ship was a robot like you at one point, right?"

"Why yes he was. Still is actually. The _Nemesis _was known as Trypticon Station before the war. Utilized as a floating laboratory that housed experiments far too dangerous to keep on the planet's surface, Trypticon carried much of that time's known Dark Energon. His time before the Station however is shrouded in mystery. There are, however, several possibilities. One is that he was a very rare race of Cybertronians known as a Cityformer, a Cybertronian large enough to transform into a small city. Another is that he was a mere space station that was given a spark and intelligence. Either way, Trypticon was a formidable foe against the Autobots until Optimus and a few others from his group of elite warriors finally felled him. They dismantled him but kept his conscious and spark intact before putting him in several labs to keep what they deemed an unfair advantage away from us. The battles to regain Trypticon were hard and long, but we finally managed to capture all of his pieces and re-form him into the warship you see now."

Starscream breaks up his leader's history lesson with a status update on the project. "We are ready to revitalize the ship Megatron. I would deem it wise if you waited for us on the bridge. We will join you as soon as we are finished." Megatron turns to his SIC, the white Seeker having finished the patch while his leader explained the ships origins.

"Very well Starscream. By they way, is there any chance his conscious will return with the repairs?"

A pause then, "yes, I would not be surprised if Trypticon returns to us. Even though that spacebridge incident left him as he is now, the Red Energon might repair his processor as well. We will just have to wait and find out."

* * *

Once on the bridge, the Cons each go to a station to watch for signs of repair. Megatron stands on the walkway with the children perched in various places on his person. Suddenly, screens pop to life along the walls and the hum of the repaired engines rings in their audios after so much silence. The ship slowly levels off as the Red Energon repairs and heals the damage done by the crash. Starscream and Knock Out enter the bridge, looking triumphant at their accomplishment. Whooping and cheering, the kids, now on a nearby consol, excitedly laugh and shout as their ship rises gracefully into the gathering dusk. Crackling static fills the intercom causing everyone to fall silent. Tones and beeps slowly emerge from the static and enter the silence of the bridge. Megatron and Starscream share a knowing glance before the Seeker calls out, "I am afraid that we cannot understand your speech, it is far too old for us. I did, however, add an internet hub to you recently so you might as well use it to learn an intelligible language."

Silence reigns for several seconds before it is torn to shreds once again. "Oohlook! NewpeopleandnewfriendsandneweverythingandSTARSCREA M! Ican'tbelievethatIgettoseeyouagainStarscream! It'sbeensolongandIreallycan'tremembermuchandImisse dyousomuch! HowlonghaveIbeenout?"

Miko is the first of the stunned gathering to speak. "Guys, I think a hyper-active chipmunk just hijacked the comm. system."

"IamNOTachipmunk! Wait,what'sachipmunk?" comes the distinctly offended voice again.

Starscream face palms with a groan. "I said intelligible, not extremely rapid intelligible. There is a very big difference."

Jack looks stunned while the rest of their group tries to stifle their laughter. Megatron finally recovers, his leader poker face firmly in place as he describes their situation. Several hmm's and uhuh's come from the obviously distracted voice until Megatron decides to address the situation. "Trypticon, what are you doing?"

"Hmm? Oh,IwasjustlookingonthiswebsitecalledYoutube. Ithasalotofinterestingvideosonhere. Whoknewhumanshurtingthemselvescouldbesofunny?"

A highly restrained roll of his optics and a deep intake is all Megatron can answer with, giving up on a lost cause. That's what he got for having his ship under the care of scientists for millennia, apparently those stuck around scientists gained at least a little scientific curiosity and insanity. Poor Starscream is the lone exception, his sanity still somehow intact after being bottled up with only other scientists for so long. About to leave the bridge to find Knock Out and ask for an explanation of Trypticon's voice, a hail from said individual stops Megatron.

"Oh,Megatron! Youknowthoseescapepodsthatyouweretracking? Theyshouldhavelandedaboutfiveminutesago. Butnowtherearethreeinsteadofjusttwo. Doyouknowwhy?"

Soundwave jerks up and around to face Megatron, looking as though he is about to open a ground bridge any second. A small motion puts him slightly at ease, although it is still clear he wants to dash off to wherever the pods landed. Megatron makes a quick decision, calling Knock Out to the bridge. He gives a nod to his eager TIC. A green portal swooshes open just as Knock Out enters the bridge. The blue medic quirks an optical ridge at the antsy Soundwave and open groundbridge. "Knock Out, the pods have landed. Your medical assistance may be required if the occupants have sustained any injuries." A look of understanding crosses the medic's face before he follows Soundwave and Megatron through the portal. Unfortunately, no one notices two small figures slip into the groundbridge.

* * *

Jackson cannot believe that their warship is one huge Cybertronian! Sure, the ship must have come from somewhere, but the thought of how big this robot could be almost blows his mind. Miko, who is really the only one of the four who can understand the hyper-speed speech, turns and murmurs quietly to the three boys. "Escape pods?"

Jack answers, "yeah, Cybertron is dead, so they had to escape somehow. The long distance ones usually send them into stasis, kind of like a coma for us, to keep them in suspended animation until they can land somewhere. Apparently some new guys are coming soon."

"Great, even more aliens are gonna be running around here," Jackson snorts, not enthralled in the least. A nasty look is Jack's only response as Knock Out walks into the bridge and Megatron explains the situation. The groundbridge opens up and allows the three Decepticons to go through. Unfortunately, Jackson decides to follow them. He darts away while Jack hisses an unheeded warning. Rolling his eyes, Jack runs after the other teen, aiming to tackle him before he reaches the portal. But he is not fast enough. Jackson runs through, leading Jack in after him while the two other humans watch in horror. The groundbridge closes and Miko and Raf look at each other, not sure what they should do about their missing friends.

* * *

Two escape pods race towards the brilliantly blue and white organic planet. After all the time in their pods, a good stretch of their legs and solid ground beneath the occupants sounds like the Well of Sparks incarnate, organic displeasures aside. The third pod is more of a ship than a pod, with a weapons system and much more room than what the other two crafts are sporting. Breaking the atmosphere, orange tongues of flame surround them as the first and second pods begin the process of waking up their passengers. The third's traveler gallantly tries to correct the steep descent, knowing his ship will not survive the upcoming hard crash without serious damage. The three vessels strike the ground in blossoms of fire, the escape pods' occupants landing near side-by-side while the third lands several miles away from them. Hatches open and allow the occupants to escape the confines of their small prisons. They observe their surroundings for several seconds before dissolving into the nearby forest to await their allies or search for an appropriate disguise.

* * *

Megatron, Soundwave and Knock Out step from the bridge and into a thick pine forest. The usual night sounds of a forest fill their audios, chirping crickets, hooting owls and the quiet rustling of a slight breeze. Quickly deploying their scanners, Soundwave and Knock Out take point while Megatron follows as a rear guard. They finally step into a clearing created by the crash of two Decepticon escape pods, the twin trails of destruction leading them straight to their resting place. The two with scanners each go to a different pod while Megatron stands watch, sensors on high alert and weapon drawn.

"Megatron, it appears that the occupants survived the landing and were able to walk away with little to no damage, but they are nowhere to be seen. Thankfully the moon is full so I can see three sets of tracks; two leading in the same direction with the other headed the opposite way." Megatron prepares to answer his medic when a rustling in the brush catches his attention. Turning, he prepares to defend his two subordinates in case of a threat. Something large, gold, and flight-enabled zooms past his helm in the direction of the unassuming Soundwave, his back turned to the commotion.

* * *

Jack tumbles out of the groundbridge after his quarry and right into the middle of a pine forest. The two teens duck into the undergrowth around a large boulder as the recon team forges ahead to the landing site. Turning furiously to the one who got them into this mess, Jack glares at Jackson. "What was that all about? Why did you have to go chase after them? Don't you know that there could be Autobots around here! They won't hesitate to kill us and believe me, it is not a fun experience to be stuck in the middle of a Cybertronian fire-fight."

"Oh lay off will ya? This will be fun. We get to be the first to see the new guys!" Jackson smirks, watching the three Decepticons stalk through the surrounding forest. Grabbing his shoulder, Jack spins his companion around with a dark scowl.

"But I thought you didn't like them! Look, do you have any idea what kind of trouble you got us in? The Autobots are dangerous and the sooner you get that into your head, the better. Like I said, they will not hesitate to squish us because that's just who they are."

About to make a remark to counter the other teen's obvious lack of fun, Jackson's phone ringing in his pocket brings him up short. Slightly surprised, the teen pulls out his phone to look at what he now realizes is a text. Jack joins him, reading the text over his shoulder. The light of the cell phone screen illuminates their surprised faces as they re-read the text in case they misunderstood. Sure enough, the text really does say, _O hai! Can yuz see meh? Iz wavin!_

"What the-" but another text cuts Jack off. This one says, _Srsly, I iz teh wiet cat abuv yurz hedz! Y cant yuz see meh? _The teens look at each other before slowly turning around to look at the top of the rock they had their backs against. Just as the text said, there is a large white cat _waving _at them from the top of the rock. He bounds down to join them, his shoulder just level with their heads, golden yellow optics full of mischief. A human sized and humanoid mech rounds the rock to their right while a large golden bird lands on the rock itself. All sport the Decepticon sigil emblazoned somewhere on their frames. The mech looks the two wide-eyed humans up and down, before nodding to himself as though he has made up his mind about something.

"Come on guys, we should probably take them to Soundwave. He'll know what to do with them."

* * *

At the other landing site, a black and electric blue mech staggers from his nearly destroyed craft cursing up a storm. Untangling a sparking wire from his pede with a profanity-filled snarl, he storms around his ship, taking in the damage sustained from the crash. His scarlet optics rake the sides of his ship, mentally logging the breached hull, broken fins and smoking engines, plus all the panels ripped off from his rough descent. Definitely not the best landing he has ever managed, but with the organic atmosphere and unfamiliar gravitational pull, it could be understood. Servos planted on his hips, he decides to just leave his ship here and go after the Decepticons who had so graciously led him here. He transforms down into his sleek Cybertronian alt form to search out the enemy he has so long wanted to kill. That betrayal still leaves a bitter taste whenever the thought comes to mind. Shoving aside his thoughts he focuses on the hunt for prey, moving in the general direction of lights he can just barely see lighting up the night sky over the treetops.

* * *

"Soundwave, behind you!" The communications officer turns too slowly and is bowled over by the streak of gold. Megatron runs in for the attack, sword unsheathed until he notices that the gold streak has solidified into a familiar golden form perched on Soundwave and nuzzling the silver mech's head. Buzzsaw, one of Soundwave's constant companions from earlier in the war and even from the Gladiator Pits, is much more avian in design than the other flight-capable deployers, Laserbeak and Ratbat. Approaching from the side, Knock Out chuckles at the overenthusiastic greeting bestowed upon the TIC. Finally reaching his pedes and situating the large bird on his shoulder, Soundwave joins his leader with almost a jaunty skip in his step. Megatron smiles at the joy he knows his best friend is showing, even if he has limited resources available to express it.

"Soundwave! O Ai haev mist yu!" Another streak of color skids to a halt in front of Soundwave, this one white and feline-shaped. Knock Out raises an eye-ridge at the jaguar's choice of language. "Ravage, precisely where did you learn that?"

"O, the inernet." Ravage smiles cheekily at the medic. Knock Out facepalms.

The humanoid mech follows the other two with the teens walking glumly in front of him. Megatron turns to the group of three, noting Jack and Jackson's guilty countenances.

"And precisely what are you two doing here as well?" Both teens wince slightly at Megatron's tone of voice.

"Let me handle this," Jackson murmurs to Jack. The brown-haired teen takes a step forwards and clears his throat. "Sir, all I have to say is: it was Jack's fault!"

"Yes, I…. wait, WHAT?" Jack can only stare at his counterpart in astonishment while he continues on with his story of how _Jack _led him onto the groundbridge and not the other way around. Poor Jack is too flabbergasted to renounce any of the wild claims the other teen is throwing around. Fortunately, Megatron does not believe a word of Jackson's story, having already received a comm. from the humanoid mech with the conversation the two had after leaving the groundbridge.

While all the human's drama is proceeding, Knock Out scans over the new arrivals for any damages. "Well, everything seems to check out. Do any of you three know who was in the second and third pods?"

The mech shakes his helm. "Nope. The one next to us is a Decepticon, but we don't know who. The other one is of Autobot make though, with an unknown passenger. But, the other two did come together so they probably know each other."

Megatron looks thoughtful. "If there is only one, then that thankfully rules out the option of Jazz and Prowl, but leaves almost any other Autobot. Knock Out, you did say that there is one more set of tracks, correct?"

The medic nods. "Yes, tire tracks, but only two that are constantly changing distance from the other, but not because of the ground. It is almost like the wheels take the place of pedes."

"I know only one mech who has anything close to what you describe. Frenzy, I thank you for the information. I can now hazard a guess to who our unknown arrivals are. Knock Out and Soundwave, please escort everyone to the ship. It would be best if I went alone to find our missing friend and with any luck, we might just so happen to find the new Autobot." Megatron gathers the affirmations from his soldiers before turning and melting into the dark forest beyond the clearing.

* * *

A shadowy figure stalks his prey through the night-black forest. There is no good camouflage for the hulking silver figure in the grays and greens of a moonlit forest; something his hunter is thankful for. Lithely swinging into one of the massive pines native to this part of the planet, he moves with a grace and skill unseen among the general populace. The silver mech kneels on the ground, looking for something among the greenery. Jumping into the tree next to the mech, a few small branches drop onto the back of his helm and neck, causing him to pause and pull them out of the joints in his armor. He scrutinizes them closely before smirking and dropping them to the ground. Silently standing, he observes the night-time forest around him, the strange quiet telling him something is amiss. His hunter smirks, knowing he is soon to be caught, but they are at least still on his terms. He drops behind the silver mech with an extended blade, aiming for his neck.

* * *

Megatron feels the slight tremble of the ground before a blade is pressed lightly to his throat. The stealthy attack does not seem to faze him however as he stands patiently waiting for this assailant to release his hold.

A deep voice echoes in his audio, the mech's mouth mere inches from the appendage. "Even after so long fighting with and against each other, as well as this being my first time on this planet, I can still get the drop on you. _Tsk_ Megatron, you must be going soft."

Softly chuckling, Megatron answers the pertinent mech, "Oh no, I knew you were following me from the moment I noticed how new some parts of the tracks were compared to other portions. _Tsk, _Sideswipe, _you_ are the one going soft." He shifts uncomfortably under the blade at his throat. "I would also be much obliged as well if you removed your blade. It is getting a bit tight."

With a grunt, Sideswipe slithers down from Megatron's back and slips around to face his leader, tire-pedes allowing him to move gracefully as though he is on skates. Mismatched optics, one a clear ice blue, the other a deep scarlet, hold Megatron's own blue gaze with a fiery defiance. Dark green and black plating hides him well in the dark forest, shadows and moonlight coming together on his smooth lines to blend with the patterns adorning his armor. A long scar wends its way across the mech's chest and through an Autobot symbol branded onto his armor. Above the symbol, though slightly less noticeable, sits a Decepticon sigil, unmarred and unabashedly flaunted for any to see and all to know which faction serves as his.

"Sideswipe, it has come to my attention that a third craft landed. All I know is that the occupant is of Autobot allegiance, yet not the designation. I do have an idea of who it might be, but I would like to know for certain if you know who has arrived."

A deep scowl etches its way across the smaller mech's face. "Yes, I do. He has followed me for quite some time. After I found Ravage, Buzzsaw and Frenzy, I simply followed them because I figured they would know where you were. It appears that I was correct. Unfortunately, the Autobot followed me. As to his designation, it is Blurr.

* * *

Perched on a ridge overlooking a road, Blurr watches the activity below him with interest. Several human cars are lined up as though in preparation for a race. He uses the newly found human information hub, Google, to identify the cars below. The first row consists of a black and white Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 and a black and yellow Urbana 500 while the second row has an anti-freeze green Lamborghini Aventador and a maroon Aston Martin Vanquish. The third and last row earns even the Cybertronian's appreciation. The closest is a chrome and black Bugatti Veyron while the other just so happens to be a silver Lamborghini Veneno. Comparing the stats of each car, his credits are on the Veyron while the Veneno would at least give it some competition. A human femme steps into the middle of the road with a red bandanna held high in one hand. Revving up, the sounds of all six massive engines sear the night air as they prepare for launch. The bandana is dropped and the powerful machines roar forwards into the night, not noticing one more car slip into the race.

* * *

Megatron watches the race from above, keeping an optic on Sideswipe racing below. The former racer and gladiator closely follows the two front-runners, unsurprisingly the Veyron and Veneno. Sliding next to the Veneno, Sideswipe scans the silver masterpiece and reformats on the fly, plates shifting and melting to create a solid form again. Now two Venenos race side by side; one is the original silver racer, while the other is a dark green Cybertronian in disguise. The green one darts off the road and onto a small dirt road before joining Megatron as he lands in front of one of his most loyal warriors.

Scrutinizing him, Megatron cannot help but make an observation, "you don't really look that much different. That car has almost the same design as your Cybertronian form."

Sideswipe chuckles lowly. "That is the reason I picked it. The Veneno might not be the fastest car on the planet, but they sure look like it."

Megatron nods in agreement before calling for a groundbridge back to the _Nemesis._

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the race, another Cybertronian decides he has waited long enough. Sliding through a gap, he gains ground on the competition. The Mustang and Urbana he passes by, as well as the Aston Martin. The Aventador however gives him pause as he considers the pros and cons of the super car. Deciding that no, this is not the right car for him, he continues on to the two front-runners, the Veneno and Veyron. A quick glance at the Veneno instantly shoves it from the list. He refuses to become a car that looks like that. Just no. Now only the Bugatti is left, the slightly bubbly look to it not quite his style, but speed does not lie. A quick peruse through the lands of Google shows that the fastest streetcar in the world is as good as he is going to get, so he grudgingly scans the vehicle. As the changes take effect and his frame adjusts to the new form, he pays close attention to what augmentations have been added to the factory engine by both the human owner and his programming. A noise of satisfaction leaves his vocalizer as he scrolls through his own stats. All are acceptable, but he will have to try to see for himself if he really can reach over 500 miles per hour in the human measurement.

Darting off the road he too enters a side road leading back to his ship before calling for an Autobot groundbridge. The portal opens and he steps through into a large laboratory. Before him stands Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots and Destroyer of worlds. Blurr sinks to one knee in a deep bow of respect for his leader and master

"Rise Blurr, one of my most faithful servants. I have long awaited your presence here on this planet."

"Thank you sir. I myself have long awaited this day as well. Tell me how I can serve you and it will be done to the best of my abilities."

Optimus smirks, "perfect. I am need of a Second in Command. Smokescreen proved incompetent and too traitorous for the position. You are to fill his post."

"Of course, my liege. I will gladly take up the mantel of Second in Command."

* * *

Megatron steps from the groundbridge followed closely by Sideswipe who quickly takes in his surroundings. They appear to have landed on the _Nemesis' _bridge, which is lit up as per usual in glowing blue with Soundwave at the main controls. The Decepticon TIC turns to them as he closes the groundbridge with a _whoosh_. Sideswipe turns around to find himself face-to-face with a glaring Knock Out. The irate medic merely sidesteps the frontliner and makes a beeline for his leader. Following the CMO is Starscream who stops by Sideswipe to watch the fireworks.

"He's gotten a lot louder and more exotic since I last saw him," the green mech murmurs to the Seeker as he watches Knock Out give Megatron a very verbal dressing down. "I didn't even know he knew human profanities." Megatron stands like a scolded sparkling; knowing he had better look sorry or Knock Out would get rough.

"Yes, I'm fairly sure that is the first thing he tries to find whenever we come to a new planet. He's become a lot more accurate too. He managed to hit me from across the bridge earlier today with a crowbar. He's also learned how to throw datapads recently after watching me do it several times," Starscream returns, then winces when said crowbar is used to drive the medic's message home.

"So in short, the same rules apply as always? Don't piss him off and don't get too slagged."

"Precisely. Now, you need to be filled in on the protocols we currently have on board this ship. A few have changed since you were with us last, so those will be first." Both mechs turn and leave the bridge and their leader to his fate at the hands of Knock Out with the sounds of Trypticon chortling in the background.

* * *

**AN- Bit of trivia for this chapter, SG Ravage is one of my all-time favorite characters. Spoiler for the next chapter: the first relic hunt episode! Complete with NYC, pyrotechnics and a good dose of awesome battle scenes ****courtesy of our resident hand-to-hand specialists. **

**If you have any questions or just wanna tell me your favorite part of the chapter, or even constructive criticism, then just drop me a line. I like knowing what I do right and if I did anything wrong. **


	8. Chapter 8

**AN- Bit of a schedule change. This is just a short but needed filler. Well, short compared to the last one at least. Don't get used to this short of an update though, I doubt it will happen again. Hope you guys enjoy!**

* * *

Discovery

Ratchet's servos fly across the keyboard of one of the computers in his lab. Working on one of his forgotten projects he had started long ago, he sips a cube of normal energon, the softly glowing liquid not his usual beverage. The Dark Energon he usually drinks is processing in the background, the machine humming softly. Shooting a frown at the innocent blue cube he then glares at the processing Dark Energon with a muttered, "hurry up you stupid machine," before returning to his work. After several more minutes, a rasping voice comes in over the comm. lines.

:Autobot Blurr to headquarters. I am requesting a groundbridge or coordinates to your position. Do you copy?:

Jumping up with surprise, Ratchet comms Optimus with the news and returns the communication. :Autobot Blurr, we read you loud and clear. A groundbridge is incoming to your location. Stand by for pick up. Autobot Outpost Omega 1 over and out.:

Optimus Prime strides into the lab with the shadowy form of Wheeljack following him as Ratchet ends the conversation and opens the groundbridge. Through it saunters the sleek form of Blurr, black and blue plating shining in the stark lighting of the lab. Upon seeing his leader and Prime, he kneels in a deep bow, right arm crossing his chest in a sign of deepest respect.

"Rise Blurr, one of my most faithful servants. I have long awaited your presence here on this planet."

The speedy Autobot smoothly returns to his pedes but keeps his helm bowed as he speaks. "Thank you sir. I myself have long awaited this day as well. Tell me how I can serve you and it will be done to the best of my abilities."

Optimus smirks, "perfect. I am need of a Second in Command. Smokescreen proved incompetent and too traitorous for the position. You are to fill his post."

"Of course, my liege. It will be an honor take up the mantel of Second in Command."

"Good. Ratchet, check over him for damages. Wheeljack, you shall resume your duties as Third and assign our new soldier quarters." The Prime's pet wraith nods before disappearing through the door and off to do his master's bidding. Optimus follows his Third out of the lab and off to his own duties.

Once they are gone, Blurr turns with slight trepidation to Ratchet only to find his optics the normal Autobot scarlet, not the insane amethyst they are when the mad scientist is hyped up on Dark Energon. Relaxing slightly, Blurr hops onto a berth. When Ratchet does not have all the Dark Energon running through his systems and addling his processor he is actually a quite capable medic, insanity aside.

Ratchet throws back the last of his normal cube before tossing it aside and sending another glare at the Dark Energon processor. It gives an innocent gurgle before quieting down to the usual hum. Following his gaze, the new Second in Command smirks. "Taking too long?" he asks quietly, the gravely sound of his voice sending a shiver down Ratchet's spine. Now the medic remembers why he never really liked Blurr or any really who worked closely with him.

"Yes. I have only had normal energon to refuel with since I ran out of processed Dark Energon. Now hold still while I scan you."

Interested, Blurr cocks an eyeridge and remains still as the medic had asked. It pays to stay on Ratchet's good side, something Smokescreen could attest to. "But can you not simply use the unprocessed kind? It would be much faster."

Ratchet shrugs, "I used to do that. After a while though, I noticed that it was corroding through my lines so now I have to purify it to keep it from doing too much damage. Stupid stuff takes forever to process though."

A single nod is his only return as they sit in silence while Ratchet works. "So, how did you get here? I thought you were still on that revenge shtick of yours. Did you follow a transmission, dumb luck or someone who knew to come here?"

"I still am, but a little of the last two led me here."

"So He's here on Earth?"

"Yes. I have been on His tail for quite some time. He joined up with Soundwave's pets before I found Him. Apparently they knew where to find their master and He simply followed."

Ratchet merely grunts as he finishes his repairs on the warrior's frame caused by his ungainly landing. "All finished. Just don't do anything too strenuous until those welds-" A comm. interrupts his spiel as a grouchy sounding Bumblebee calls for a groundbridge. Rolling his optics skyward, Ratchet opens a groundbridge to the scout.

The black and yellow Urbana storms through, quite obviously in a very foul mood, shoulders hunched and doorwings folded to his back. "Stupid human cars. I'm a Cybertronian and I _still _can't beat them! What kind of energy do they run on, nuclear? And Veyrons don't even _look_ that fast anyways. Stupid humans and their stupid love for hyped-up cars."

Frowning, Ratchet closes the bridge, "And precisely where wereyou?Not off street racing, I hope. You and I _both_ know what the Prime thinks about that."

All Bumblebee does is glare at the black and white mech before another voice stops him in his tracks. "Actually, Goldbug, I would like to know that as well." Only a few mechs know about his previous name, and fewer still ever use it instead of the name given to him by other bullying mechs. Turning slowly, Bumblebee finds himself face to face with a narrow-opticked Blurr, arms crossed over his chest, one pede slowly tapping. He knows that look, and the consequences of not telling the truth when linked to that look usually require a painful trip to the med bay, which thankfully will not be too long of a trip.

"Umm, actually, I might have been racing just a little bit. Just a little bit! Nothing too serious, just honing my skills because only Smokescreen was fast enough to train with me before he left. So, I have to use other means now." Blurr's optics narrow further, scrutinizing his subordinate closely as the scout slowly withers. He jerkily nods to himself and backs off.

Turning to the door, apparently satisfied with the answer, Blurr puts the trembling scout to ease. "Your reasoning is sound Goldbug. I need you in top form now that the Traitor is on planet."

Bumblebee's optics widen, then narrow as his doorwings form a sharp 'v' in anger. "You mean _Sideswipe _is here? Fragging Pit slag of a glitch, I can't believe he's managed to live this long. Don't worry sir; he will not survive this planet."

Turning, Blurr dismisses Bumblebee while Ratchet returns to his forgotten project. About to leave as well, Blurr turns to see Ratchet typing away furiously, pausing to think, then starting again as characters slowly jump out to form a set of coordinates. Giving a huff of triumph, the scientist eagerly continues his decoding as the new SIC walks up to stand behind him. The warrior watches with a canted helm, high-powered processor quickly decoding another set as Ratchet slowly plods through the same one.

"Ratchet, what is this?"

Squeaking with fear, the medic jumps and whirls around. "What? Oh, this. It's a database from Iacon. I got it off Smokescreen after he decided to join us. It used to be one of Alpha Trion's personal files, encoded by him to keep nosy Decepticons out of it. So far, I have no idea what these coordinates are for, but I'd like to find out soon. They are Earth coordinates, but I can't imagine why an organic planet would mean anything to Alpha Trion."

Nodding absentmindedly, Blurr watches the constantly moving characters with interest before quickly typing a sequence and decoding the rest of the coordinate. Now two reside on the screen and Blurr moves on to decode a third.

Ratchet watches slack jawed in disbelief. "Since when did you know how to decode anything encoded by Alpha Trion?"

"This code is merely a more elaborate version of a code I created before the War started. I was a scholar back then in one of the CrystalCity academies. I was not aware that Alpha Trion even knew about my code or me. But this code is much more complicated than the one I created, so it will take me a while to sort it out."

A third falls into place before Ratchet calls in Optimus to look at Blurr's work. When the fourth finally comes together, Blurr turns around to see that he no longer has only Ratchet watching him. He inclines his head to his leader while the False Prime scrutinizes his Second. Coming to a decision, he turns to Ratchet. "Call Cliffjumper and RC. I have a mission for them."

Unbeknownst to all, leached onto their mainframe is a parasite, sucking the collected information from the database and sending it on a one-way trip to Trypticon's database.

* * *

Arcee opens her optics to see the purple ceiling of the Decepticon med bay. Sitting up, she notices that she is in one of the small chambers off the main bay. She climbs down from the berth and stretches, joints and gears popping and rotating after her time of unconsciousness. A quick glance down at herself shows that her plating is now clean and free of dents from her fall off the flight deck. Speaking of which, she wonders where Starscream is and how badly he is injured. That line of thought brings her up short. Since when has she ever cared about Starscream? Sure, they might have exchanged life stories, but he did kill her Cliffjumper after all. But why did she not hate him? He himself said so and she did dislike Airachnid, but the hate is just not there.

Heaving a frustrated sigh, she leaves her room to enter the main bay. Looking around for Knock Out, she sees him working on a strange new mech, dark green plating with black decals glinting in the overhead lights. Only half of the mech can be seen; one blue optic and a Decepticon sigil on his right shoulder designating his faction. Thick armor protects the lithe frame and wheeled pedes add a unique dynamic to the mech. Trying to get a better look at him, Arcee accidently brushes against a tool on a workbench as she passes, sending it clattering to the ground. The mech on the berth jerks up on high alert as he searches for the cause of the noise. Knock Out protests rather verbally, but the medic is ignored in favor of the perceived threat. His optics land on Arcee and the femme starts in surprise and fear. Only one optic is blue, the other is a smoldering carmine and both hold a look so predatory that she wants to shrink into herself. Not even her Megatron could look like that even with his sheer size and reputation.

"Come into the light femme. I do not trust anything that skulks in the dark," he states in a deep, rumbling voice as he slips off the berth to glide silently to rest in front of her. Even the way he moves reminds her of a predator stalking prey. Now his chest is fully visible too, a long, ugly scar slashing through both plating and Autobot symbol.

"Sideswipe..." Knock Out warns as he slowly picks up a crowbar from a nearby workbench just in case things get nasty with the frontliner, as they have been known to. Taking several steps forwards, Arcee approaches Sideswipe while he backs away, keeping a good amount of space between them. He starts to circle the blue femme, raking his optics over her frame as he moves, taking in every inch of her before finally stopping to face her.

"So you are the dimension hopping femme Starscream told me about. You look like you can hold your own in a fight. What weapons do you carry?" Arcee unlocks an armblade and blaster, keeping the blaster disengaged. Sideswipe raises an optic ridge at her choice of weapons. "Interesting. You are a close range fighter. Most femmes stay behind lines as snipers or they work with Special Operations. Why did you choose close range and essentially frontliner work?"

Arcee merely shrugs, "I'm fast and light yet strong enough to do and take quite a bit of damage. Now what about you? I thought for sure you would be an Autobot."

Scowling, Sideswipe's claw-like digits move to finger the scar on his chest. "I left them after Optimus Prime betrayed me and left me for dead. You need know no more." He turns and stalks from the med bay while Arcee and Knock Out finally relax.

"Now that we have that out of the way, Arcee, come here. I need to go over you just to make sure everything is running smoothly. You were the lucky one; Starscream damaged his wing again while you just had a few dents in your plating. He told me you fell on top of him while he tried to keep you both from falling too fast. But no matter the damage, you two are still lucky to survive at all. That was not a short fall." Obediently hopping onto the berth, Arcee sits still for the cyan medic as he quickly runs a scanner over her frame before gently checking the older welds from the fight after her first arrival and the ones from Galvatron.

"So, what was that all about?"

"Hmm? Oh, that was just Sideswipe being Sideswipe. I was quite impressed that you did not back down from him. He has left lesser bots a quivering pile of fear with just that look. The worst-case scenario we feared would happen was that he would instantly kill you for being an Autobot. He's killed for less than that before."

"But why didn't he and what was with the weapons show?"

"Apparently he approves of you somehow. That little demonstration was an assessment of your abilities. He was simply making sure that you were not a weak link that would need to be protected. To him you are an unknown, a security risk of sorts. Something that could harm or help this team and Sideswipe has made it his personal mission to figure out which one you are. I know this, Megatron knows this, and Starscream does his best to accommodate him. Because you are now combat ready, you are allowed to-" Megatron makes a call over Trypticon's comm. system, breaking into Knock Out's assessment.

"Decepticons, report to the bridge immediately. We have a problem on our hands." The medic and femme look at each other then swiftly leave the med bay and head to the bridge. Sideswipe, Hardshell and Airachnid join them as they enter the bridge, Megatron, Starscream, Soundwave and Dreadwing already discussing the situation. The kids watch from a nearby consul, all looking sleepy from the rude awakening.

"What's the big hubbub? Don't they know it's four in the morning?" Jackson grumbles, not happy with the early-morning wakeup call. Jack just rolls his eyes, wondering why Jackson has to be such a nuisance. Sideswipe seems interested in the humans, their small organic bodies capturing his curiosity. But Megatron grabs his and everyone else's attention as he finishes a heated discussion with Starscream and turns to his loyal followers.

"Soundwave has just received a transmission from the Autobot base. Inside was a set of four coordinates, each in a different part of the world. We do not, however, know what these are for. Four teams will be sent out, one for each set of coordinates. Arcee and Sideswipe, you will take the first in New York City. Dreadwing and I will go to Antarctica. Soundwave, you will take your deployers to the third while Airachnid and Hardshell shall have the last set on the Equator." The bots mentioned nod to their partners and prepare to move out.

Looking thoughtful, Arcee turns to Sideswipe, murmuring, "do you know human traffic laws?"

He blinks, getting an "ah scrap" look. "No. I have barely been here six of the human's hours. I have not had time to download anything."

She glances at the humans on their consul, still looking a little sleepy. An idea comes to mind and she calls to Jack. "Hey Jack, you awake enough?"

Startled, he looks up at his guardian. "Wha? Yeah, I'm awake. Why?"

Nodding in Sideswipe's direction, she answers his question. "Sideswipe doesn't know human traffic laws. I was wondering if you would like to come and teach him a few things."

A grin lights up his face. "Sure, I'd love to!"

Jackson on the other hand, is more than a little upset at this. "Hey, why does he get to go? I can drive too!"

Arcee glances at Airachnid, not entirely sure if she would allow it. Jackson_is_ her charge after all. The white spider-femme gives the other femme a once-over then a glance at Sideswipe before shrugging and turning to Hardshell. Taking this as a yes, Arcee nods to the youth. He whoops with joy as Sideswipe joins the blue femme at the human's consul in preparation for their mission. Sideswipe and Arcee transform with the former giving a rev of his engine just to show off. Jack descends into the sleek Lamborghini with just a little trepidation. He has never been in a car like this; not even his Smokescreen was this powerful of a car. Jackson however has never ridden a motorcycle, but he climbs on gamely, Jack's helmet snugly protecting his head.

At a nod from Soundwave, the four enter their groundbridge and go through before Soundwave redirects it to Megatron and Dreadwing's coordinates. Once those two are through, Airachnid and Hardshell sweep through in their altmodes to find what they are looking for. Finally, he nods to his companions and the three smaller mechs join him as he opens his own bridge. It closes behind him, leaving only Knock Out and Starscream on Trypticon's bridge. Silence reigns for several seconds before Trypticon breaks it.

"Nowwhatdowedo?"

"Now, we wait."

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**AN- Hey guys, just a little note for the end of this. This story is almost at 50 reviews! I would love if I could make it to 50 with this chapter; that would be amazing! Big thanks to all of my watchers, favorites and reviewers, I definitely could not have made it this far without you guys! *hugs***


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